LOS ANGELES.- The 75th edition of NBA All-Star Gamewhich will be held in February 2026, will feature a triangular tournament between two teams of American players and a world team made up of foreign talents, the league announced this Tuesday.
The tournament, which will consist of four games of 12 minutes each, will be played on February 15 at the Intuit Dome, the home court of the Los Angeles Clippersopened last year in Inglewood, neighboring Los Angeles International Airport.
Two teams will face each other in the match. The remainder will play first against the winner and then against the loser of the opening match.
The final will pit the two best teams based on their winning record or point difference.
Each team will have a minimum of eight players, so the selection process for the All-Star Game, which will choose 24 players (12 from each conference), will be modified so that all athletes are selected regardless of their position.
“I love it,” said the former league star, Carmelo Anthony.
“The players are used to basketball without fixed positions. You can see five guards on the court. I love the idea of the best players being chosen for the All-Star Game,” Melo added.
“It brings excitement. It brings a lot of essence back to the game. The All-Star Game should have the best players, regardless of their position.”
Another former NBA star, Vince Carterpointed out how difficult qualifying could be for talented centers, given that many teams have highly skilled point guards and guards.
“It’s a lot harder for centers now,” Carter said.
“It’s harder for a center to get a chance because there are a lot of great point guards in the league.”
“It’s going to be difficult for a center to get on that list of 24 players,” added ‘Air’ Carter.
Five players, who will be considered starters, will be selected from each conference (East and West).
Selection process
The fans will have 50% of the votes, the players 25% and a panel of journalists the remaining 25%.
Seven players from each conference, who will serve as substitutes, will be selected by the head coaches of the NBA teams.
The process for assigning American players to one or another team will be determined later, the NBA reported.
If the vote fails to select 16 American players and eight foreigners, the NBA commissioner, Adam Silverwill choose additional players to complete both groups and reach the minimum required.
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game featured foreign players such as Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canadian star and current NBA Most Valuable Player; French center Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio; his Serbian counterpart Nikola Jokic of Denver; the Greek center Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee, the Cameroonian forward Pascal Siakam from Indiana and the Turkish center Alperen Sengun from Houston.
