The three teams will face off in a round-robin tournament with each squad playing each other once in a 12-minute game. After those three games take place, the two teams with the best record will face off in one final contest to crown the All-Star Game champions. The All-Star Game takes place on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. PT and will air on NBC and Peacock.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic was the leading vote-getter amongst all players and will lead the World team, while LeBron James was named to his 22nd consecutive All-Star Game appearance and is part of the USA Stripes roster.

Prior to the All-Star Game itself, All-Star Weekend kicks off on Friday with the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, taking place at the Kia Forum at 4 p.m. PT. That will be followed by the Castrol Rising Stars, which begins at 6 p.m. PT at the Intuit Dome where the majority of All-Star festivities will take place and will stream on Peacock.

NBA All-Star Saturday Night will air on Peacock and NBC and begins at 2 p.m. PT at the Intuit Dome. This will feature the State Farm 3-point Contest, the AT&T Slam Dunk and the return of the Kia Shooting Stars contest, which replaces the Skills competition.

Below are complete details of the three events in the order they will be taking place on Saturday.

State Farm 3-point Contest

The State Farm 3-point contest has a star-studded field featuring numerous current and former All-Stars. Last year’s winner, Tyler Herro will not be defending his crown, but two former champions are participating led by the surprising inclusion of former two-time champ Damian Lillard who won’t play this season due to a torn Achilles, but will still take part in this contest.

Donovan Mitchell will also be participating and would become the first player in NBA history to win the Slam Dunk and 3-point championships if he were to come out on top.

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Bobby Portis, Milwaukee Bucks
Norman Powell, Miami Heat

Kia Shooting Stars

The Kia Shooting stars makes its return for the first time since 2015 when Chris Bosh, Swin Cash and Dominique Wilkins won their third consecutive title. This year’s version will feature current NBA players and legends, but not WNBA players as had been the case in previous editions.

Team All-Star: Chet Holmgren, Scottie Barnes, Richard Hamilton
Team Cameron: Kon Knueppel, Jalen Johnson, Corey Maggette
Team Harper: Dylan Harper, Ron Harper Jr., Ron Harper Sr.
Team Knicks: Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson, Allan Houston

AT&T Slam Dunk

The 2026 AT&T Slam Dunk will crown a new champion as three-time winner Mac McClung will not be defending his title this year. This year’s field is a group of young players looking to make a name for themselves and also features the only participant from a Los Angeles team on All-Star Saturday night.

Carter Bryant, San Antonio Spurs
Jaxson Hayes, Los Angeles Lakers
Keshad Johnson, Miami Heat
Jase Richardson, Orlando Magic

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That was in addition to plenty of stars featured with rookie phenom Cooper Flagg, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama, among other. Last year, ratings were a hotly debated topic as the NFL tried to take over Christmas Day while many NBA fans complain that the season is too long with numerous stars sitting out of marquee games.

Under a new media rights deal, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime have spiced up the NBA viewing experience though, along with ESPN. So far, the results seem to be paying off as this year’s Christmas Day slate was the most-watched in 15 years, via NBA Communications:

The NBA delivered its most-watched Christmas Day in 15 years. More than 47 million people in the U.S. watched the NBA on Christmas Day across Disney networks – up 45% vs. last year.

(Excludes the 2011-12 season which started on Christmas Day.) pic.twitter.com/evgUQjlYWp

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 31, 2025

The NBA was the most-viewed brand across social media on Christmas Day, generating 1.6 billion views – up 23% vs. last year.

(Source: Videocites) pic.twitter.com/1etiztHJO7

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 31, 2025

The New York Knicks had an impressive comeback win at Madison Square Garden over the Cleveland Cavaliers, which featured a strong start to kick off Christmas. Then, Wembanyama and company beat the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder for the third time in a matter of weeks.

Lastly, Jokic put up 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists in the nightcap in a thrilling overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Edwards put up 44 points of his own. Overall, this holiday was a success for the NBA after battling outside criticisms from fans, and hopefully, that positive momentum carries on throughout the rest of this season.

LeBron James discusses significance of playing on Christmas Day

Nobody knows what it is like to play on Christmas like Lakers star LeBron James. Now in his 23rd season, James played in his 20th Christmas Day game and the one downside of that is that he couldn’t spend time with his family.

When asked about the significance of playing on a holiday, he acknowledged that he would rather spend the entire day with his loved ones. However, the 41-year-old knows that at the end of the day, he needs to suit up and put on a performance for his team and it’s an honor to get to play on Christmas.

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This has led the NBA to scramble and figure out how they can maintain the revenue of sports gambling while disincentivizing players to break rules by joining themselves. And while it’s not something they can likely ever do away with entirely, it appears they have found some things to work on.

It was recently reported that the NBA is enacting a handful of new policies to help curb the sports gambling issues from players and coaches, beginning with injury reporting rules related to Billups’ case, via David Purdum of ESPN:

The NBA is attempting to reduce the value of inside information and combat performance manipulation as it reacts to the federal indictments of a current player, a head coach and a former player in gambling cases, according to a memo sent to all teams Friday.

The league is considering potential policy changes to address tanking, increase the frequency of injury reporting and restrict what sportsbooks offer, according to the memo.

The NBA solicited input from teams and reviewed a set of proposed changes with the board of governors before identifying six areas for potential change, according to the memo, which was obtained by ESPN. In addition to tanking, injury reporting and prop bets, the league plans to upgrade its education program on gambling, adopt new measures to protect players, coaches and team personnel from harassment from sports bettors, and enhance its ability to investigate unusual betting activity, the memo states.

The league might also make some bigger changes to curb end-of-season tanking and the gambling issues that come along with it, via Shams Charania of ESPN:

The NBA has begun to gather input from its owners and general managers on new ways to combat tanking in the aftermath of the gambling scandal that rocked the league at the start of the season, sources told ESPN.

At a board of governors meeting Friday, the league presented several ideas around potential modifications to rules regarding draft pick protections, the draft lottery and other possible approaches, according to multiple sources.

In recent years, multiple teams have either shut down players early or sat players for games to try to improve their draft positioning, often tied to a protected pick. Sources said multiple ideas were proposed as a brainstorming measure to combat tanking, including:

• Limiting pick protections to either top four or 14 and higher, which would eliminate the problematic mid-lottery protections.

• No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row.

• Locking lottery positions after March 1.

It’s good to see the league finally making important changes like limiting player prop betting. That not only prevents players from cheating, but could also do some work towards helping rampant gambling addiction in the sports world.

It remains to be seen, though, if injury reporting rules and tanking rules will have any impact, as the league has been looking to fix those for years, with no major success.

JJ Redick calls for consistency on NBA officiating

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has a tendency to let his emotions show on the sidelines, and he did that against the L.A. Clippers.

The Lakers lost to the Clippers, 103-88, while down three starters, Gabe Vincent and losing Luka Doncic at halftime.

The referees, unfortunately, played a factor in the loss as well.

After the loss, Redick sounded off on the officiating and called for the NBA to address the lack of consistency in calls as he has not been receiving feedback when reaching out to the league.

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The decision marked the end of a partnership that began when Curry signed with Under Armour in 2013. That came after playing the first four seasons of his career as a Nike athlete.

When Curry’s shoe contract expired, he took meetings with several of the major brands. That amounted to signing a deal with Under Armour at $4 million per year in addition to plans for a signature shoe line and an opportunity to become the face of the company.

Nike’s offer to keep Curry as part of their NBA roster was $2.5 million and they declined their right to match his contract from Under Armour. The decision has gone down as one of the biggest misfires in Nike’s history, as Curry has gone on to win four championships, two MVP Awards and became the best 3-point shooter in NBA history, among other accolades.

In now separating from Under Armour, the Curry Brand is going to move forward independently. Though, plans remain for Under Armour to release the Curry 13 in February 2026.

New sneaker free agent Steph Curry rocking the Kobe 6 "Mambacita" tonight

(: @NickDePaula) pic.twitter.com/zLVmxCHcM9

— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) November 15, 2025

“Under Armour believed in me early in my career and gave me the space to build something much bigger and more impactful than a shoe. I’ll always be grateful for that,” Curry said in a statement.

“Curry Brand was created to change the game for good and over the past five years, we successfully changed the game for kids, for communities, and for basketball. What Curry Brand stands for, what I stand for and my commitment to that mission will never change, it’s only growing stronger.

“I’m excited for a future that’s focused on aggressive growth with a continued commitment to keep showing up for the next generation.”

Steph Curry switches out of Kobe 6 protro Mambacita

Curry continued to dominate headlines on Friday, his first game as a proverbial sneaker free agent, as he wore the Nike Kobe 6 Protro Mambacita Sweet 16 during pregame warmups.

It didn’t necessarily come as much of a surprise considering Curry’s previous history with Nike, and impact the Los Angeles Lakers legend had on his career. Furthermore, the Kobe 6 is among the most popular sneakers with NBA athletes.

However, Curry did not play his first game after the Under Armour separation in the signature Kobe shoe. Instead, he switched into the Curry 12 “Eat Learn Play” player exclusive come tip off at Frost Bank Center.

Another change came during the game as Curry switched into a blue colorway of his Series 7 shoe.

The Series 7 by Curry Brand released this past August.

“I’ve never worn a shoe that feels this light yet this sturdy, with the perfect balance of court feel and cushioning. Hands down, it’s the best basketball shoe I’ve ever worn,” Curry said of the sneaker.

Curry’s sneaker free agency aside, he put together another impressive performance and finished with 49 points to lead the Warriors to a second consecutive road win over the Spurs, with Friday night’s victory coming as part of NBA Cup play.

Steph Curry wanted to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant

After the Warriors’ win over the Spurs, Curry explained how warming up in Kobe’s shoes was meant to be a tribute to him and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

“I think it’s one, I know it’s just weird seeing me in anything else than my own shoes. But just the idea of what he meant. I’ve talked about Kobe a lot, and that specific pair, I think it speaks for itself what it means. And other than that, it’s just something I wanted to take advantage of in that moment and pay tribute. I think it gave me some good energy tonight.”

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Unfortunately for the NBA, things have only gotten worse in that regard and the All-Star Game has become borderline unwatchable to many fans around the world, leading to the league trying many different formats. Now, they are switching things up for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.

The league announced a USA vs. World formats in which three teams, two featuring US-born players and a third featuring international stars, will face off in a round-robin tournament. Some version of a USA vs. World format had been previously rumored, but exactly how it would work was unclear until now.

This will replace last season’s All-Star format where four teams of eight players each faced off in a single-elimination tournament. Three teams were made up of the 24 All-Stars, with five starters and seven reserves from each conference, while the fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge. Starters were still chosen via fan, media and player voting while head coaches voted for the reserves in their respective conferences.

Prior to that, the league had dropped the traditional East vs. West format in 2018, in favor of a playground-style draft with the leading vote-getter in each conference being named captains and choosing their own teams from the All-Star pool. Captains would then first choose their starters before filling out the rest of their roster with the reserves and the draft would be televised.

Barring any more unforeseen injuries, the Lakers are sure to have at least one All-Star in superstar guard Luka Doncic, who is on an absolute tear. Austin Reaves also has an excellent chance at making his first All-Star appearance should he continue at his level of play to start the season.

The big question is whether LeBron James will extend his unprecedented run of 21 consecutive All-Star appearances. He has yet to debut this season and that could hurt his chances, but he will still surely receive plenty of fan support, which could be enough to push him through.

2026 NBA All-Star Game format explained

For the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games total. The three teams will each have a minimum of eight players. 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.

The process for selecting the All-Stars remains the same with 12 players from each conference receiving the honor. Starters will be selected via a combination of fan (50%), players (25%) and media (25%) votes with the head coaches voting on the seven reserves from each conference. However, this year there will be no position designations and the process for assigning players to the two U.S. teams has yet to be determined.

If necessary, American players with ties to other countries can be used to fill out the international roster. But should the voting not result in 16 US players and 8 international players, Commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars in order to fill out either group.

That means that for the first time, there could potentially be more than 24 All-Stars suiting up.

When and where is 2026 NBA All-Star Game?

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. PT at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. The showcase will be aired on NBC and Peacock.

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