Feb 19, 2023; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Team LeBron forward Luka Doncic (right) shakes hands with forward LeBron James (6) before the 2023 NBA All-Star Game at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

2026 NBA All-Star Voting Gets Underway

Originally posted on Lakers Nation | By Corey Hansford | Last updated Dec 17, 2025 11:04 AM ET

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will be held in Los Angeles, though it will take place at the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, on Feb. 15, and will air on NBC and Peacock. Despite it being at the Clippers home, it is the Los Angeles Lakers who will be the more represented L.A. team with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves both performing at All-Star levels this season while LeBron James will always be one of the biggest vote-getters in the league.

The format for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game has once again changed, with the league adopting a USA vs. World model this year. But fans will still have the opportunity to vote for the 10 nominal “starters,” five from each conference with their vote counting as 50% of the total vote along with players accounting for 25% and a media panel accounting for the last 25%. This year, however, there will be no position designation and fans can simply vote for the five players in each conference they feel are most deserving.

And fan voting for the All-Star starters will officially begin on Dec. 17 and last through Jan. 14 with starters being announced on NBC on Jan. 19, via NBA PR:

#NBAAllStar Voting will tip off on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 12 p.m. ET and conclude on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Fans will have the opportunity to vote for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game starters via the NBA App and https://t.co/RiEezZ9Qpf with their NBA ID. pic.twitter.com/5YJupZX4lf

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 15, 2025

All fans with an NBA ID will be able to cast one vote per day either through the NBA App or on NBA.com/vote. If you do not have an NBA ID, you can sign up for one at NBA.com/ID. Additionally, there will be five days in which votes count for triple with those days being Dec. 21, 25 and 30, as well as Jan. 7 and 14.

With this new format, the rosters should shape up into 16 American-born players and eight international players, but of course there is no guarantee the voting will work out that way and should that be the case, Commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars to fill out the roster.

New USA vs. The World All-Star Game format explained

This year’s USA vs. The World format is completely new and will feature three teams of eight players each, two of those having USA-born players and the third with international players. The three teams will face off in a round-robin style tournament featuring four 12-minute games total.

Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The winning team from Game 1 will take on Team C in Game 2, followed by the losing team of Game 1 meeting Team C in Game 3. Following Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to face each other in the championship game. If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Lakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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