The league announced the rosters for the All-Star Game, dividing 25 players into three teams. This is a new format: United States against the Rest of the World, on February 15 in Inglewood, California.
Stephen Curry will once again join fellow Olympians LeBron James and Kevin Durant, this time in the NBA All-Star Game.
The league announced the rosters for the midseason event Tuesday night, dividing 25 players into three teams. This is the debut of a new format for the All-Star Game: United States against the Rest of the World, on February 15 at the LA Clippers’ field in Inglewood, California.
🇺🇸 USA STARS. USA STRIPES. WORLD. 🌍
Presenting the 2026 NBA All-Star Game Rosters!
The three teams will compete in a round-robin tournament with the top two teams advancing to the championship game.
🌟 Sunday, Feb. 15, 5pm/et, NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/lhwz8lY9Wu
— NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2026
It’s a concept that commissioner Adam Silver believes will appeal to players’ national pride and comes at an opportune time. The match will be broadcast on NBC, which will also broadcast the Milan Cortina Olympics, which begin later this week and run through February 22.
The concept of America vs. the Rest of the World was discussed for years before becoming a reality this season. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) unveiled the long-awaited plan in their latest attempt to revive interest in the game, following a tournament format that was widely criticized last season.
The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, probably the most deserving player left off the original list of 24 All-Stars, was added to the U.S. team on Tuesday, shortly before the rosters were revealed. And that decision was probably what sent New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns to the Rest of the World team.
Towns was born in New Jersey, but has played international basketball for the Dominican Republic, his late mother’s home country.
The NBA had said in recent months that it would adjust roster sizes as necessary to ensure all three teams had at least eight players, the minimum required under the new format. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is not expected to play for the Rest of the World team due to injury, which is why that team has nine players.
The United States teams were divided by age: the older players were assigned to the USA Stripes, coached by Mitch Johnson of San Antonio, and the younger players to the USA Stars, coached by JB Bickerstaff of Detroit. Toronto’s Darko Rajakovic was named coach of the Rest of the World team on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
