The NBA All-Star Game will officially engage in a “USA vs the World” format in a new twist for the annual mid-winter exhibition.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is officially US against the world.
The Association has finalized the format for the upcoming exhibition in Inglewood, CA, which will situate American All-Stars against international talents. The game will be held on Sunday, Feb. 15, at Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, with a 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT tip-off. NBC will handle broadcasting duties for the first time since the 2002 edition in Philadelphia, with streaming available on Peacock.
Outlined in a release from the NBA, the All-Star Game will actually be a quartet, with four games staged at Intuit Dome. Three teams, consisting of a minimum of eight men each, will partake in the event, playing each other in a round-robin outing. Two of the teams will be composed of Americans, while the outlier will feature international stars.
2026 NBA All-Star Game Set to Feature Round-Robin Format, Team Selection Explained
In the preliminary round, “Team A” plays “Team B” before the winner of the opener plays the third squad. The runner-up of game one then plays Team C, with the top two groups advancing to the championship finale. Point differential will settle any tiebreakers.
Though the league has dropped the traditional Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format, a dozen players from each will still be chosen for the rosters. This time around, however, players will be chosen regardless of position. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will be able to add players to the game if the desired ratio of 16 Americans and eight international representatives is not met through the initial voting.
This marks the first time that the NBA has turned to national connections for its annual All-Star Game, the latest attempt to rediscover the exhibition’s competitive spirit. Recent All-Star Games have been criticized for their lack of effort, including last year’s showdown in San Francisco that saw three “fantasy” teams curated by “NBA on TNT” personalities battle a fourth consisting of winners from the Rising Stars showcase two nights before in a bracketed tournament.
Other All-Star gimmicks included players holding a fantasy draft and playing to target scores in the fourth quarter.
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.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) November 12, 2025
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
USA vs. World Format
Moving to a “USA vs. the World” format comes in anticipation of the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be staged in Los Angeles (with the men’s and women’s action set to be staged at Intuit Dome) and broadcast on re-welcomed NBA broadcast partner NBC.
Pitting American All-Stars against their league contemporaries is not unheard of among major North American sports leagues: the WNBA, for example, has routinely held a “Team USA vs. WNBA” showcase during Olympic years, with the American group set to represent the country at the Games facing off against other league superstars who are not on that group for whatever reason.
Prior to that, the National Hockey League used a similarly styled “North America vs. the World” format for its All-Star Game from 1998 to 2002. The NHL also found success by eschewing its All-Star Game in favor of the 4 Nations Face-Off, which featured American, Canadian, Finnish, and Swedish squads composed of league talent competing for national glory.
MLB stars will also compete in the World Baseball Classic this March, the sixth edition of the tournament since its introduction in 2006.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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