NBA Confirms All-Star Game Will Feature 2 USA Teams, 1 World Team

This season’s NBA All-Star Game will feature a round-robin tournament consisting of two teams of United States players and one of international players, the league confirmed Tuesday in a press release.

Round-Robin Tournament To Feature Three Teams

Two teams of United States players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games. The three teams will each have a minimum of eight players.

In the round-robin tournament, Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The winning team from Game 1 will face Team C in Game 2, followed by the losing team of Game 1 meeting Team C in Game 3.

After Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to play each other in the championship game (Game 4). If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential in each team’s two round-robin games.

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will debut a new U.S. vs. World format, airing Sunday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock.

Two U.S. teams and one international team will compete in a round-robin tournament with four 12-minute games.

📰 Full release: https://t.co/ULQZEn5N78 pic.twitter.com/fWlozXSrwf

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) November 12, 2025

As in the past, 24 NBA All-Stars (12 from each conference) will be selected through a voting process.

The five starters from each conference will be selected by fans (50% of the vote), current NBA players (25%), and a media panel (25%). The seven reserve players from each conference will be chosen by NBA head coaches.

This year, the All-Stars will be selected without regard to position. The process for assigning players to the two U.S. teams will be determined at a later date.

NBA All-Star Game To Be Played Earlier In The Day

Per The Athletic’s Jenna West, approximately 25% of current NBA players were born outside of the U.S. For eight consecutive seasons, the NBA MVP has been awarded to a player born outside the U.S., and at least 10 international players have been selected in every draft since 2010.

According to the news release, if All-Star voting does not result in the selection of 16 U.S. players and eight international players, league commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars to join either group to reach that minimum.

In addition, the All-Star Game will not take place at its usual 8 p.m. ET start time, and instead will be at 5 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. PT, and will come on the heels of a Team USA hockey game.

Per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, the All-Star Game will be played earlier in the day because it will be broadcast by NBC, which is building All-Star Weekend into the network’s coverage of the Winter Olympic Games.

This season’s All-Star Weekend takes place in Los Angeles at Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena, and kicks off Friday, Feb. 13.

The 2026 All-Star Game will be played at Intuit Dome two years before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics. The Olympic basketball games will also be played inside the arena.