The 2026 NBA All-Star Game, set to unfold at the Intuit Dome in the vicinity of Los Angeles, is scheduled to commence on Friday, bringing a multitude of eminent players together for a densely packed weekend.
A contingent of the league’s promising new talents will initiate the festivities with the Rising Stars exhibition on Friday. Given that the No. 1 draft selection, Cooper Flagg, is sidelined due to injury until after the All-Star interlude, the youthful collective will be prominently featured by Rookie of the Year aspirant Kon Knueppel.
Saturday will witness the league’s elite athletes displaying their prowess in the 3-point shooting challenge, the shooting stars event, and the slam dunk competition. Significantly, Damian Lillard is set to take part in the 3-point contest, notwithstanding an Achilles ailment that has rendered him inactive for the whole season. The two-time 3-point victor will face competition from Donovan Mitchell, who paces the league in successful 3-pointers, alongside additional expert shooters such as Tyrese Maxey and Devin Booker.
Ultimately, on Sunday, three formidable teams brimming with stars will make their appearance in a revised format pitting American athletes against global counterparts. Will Victor Wembanyama guide Team World in opposition to Kevin Durant and Team Stripes? Or might Anthony Edwards disrupt the excitement at the helm of Team Stars?
Our NBA experts provided an exclusive preview of anticipated highlights leading up to the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend, encompassing their predictions for the victor of each challenge.
Selections by specialists were determined through a poll of NBA experts.
Emerging Talents | Saturday’s Competitions | USA vs. Global Championship
Knueppel and Queen introduce the upcoming generation of Emerging Talents
Friday, 9 p.m. ET (Peacock)
A significant absence, shaped by Cooper Flagg, will be felt in this competition, as a foot sprain keeps the 2025 No. 1 draft choice out for the entire weekend. Furthermore, former No. 2 pick Alex Sarr will not participate in Friday’s matchups, having incurred a right hamstring strain that will incapacitate him for a fortnight. Nevertheless, the contest is anticipated to serve as an entertaining showcase for the robust 2025 draft cohort, featuring Kon Knueppel, Dylan Harper, and VJ Edgecombe distributed among various squads. Stephon Castle, the current Rookie of the Year, ranks among the premier second-year athletes participating. Initially, I would have selected Flagg’s team to prevail in the mini-tournament, but with his withdrawal, I presume I will favor Team Vince, comprising Edgecombe, Derik Queen, and Matas Buzelis. Regardless of my accuracy, I am confident that this outcome will not be historically significant. — Jeremy Woo
Match 1: Team Melo vs. Team Austin
Match 2: Team Vince vs. Team T-Mac
Match 3: Victor of Match 1 vs. Victor of Match 2
Specialist Selections: Team Melo
Star-studded Event!
Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The famous person’s match makes a comeback with recognizable figures on the court, yet what distinguishes this year is the inclusion of two incumbent NBA proprietors — Mat Ishbia of the Phoenix Suns and Rick Schnall of the Charlotte Hornets, whose aggregate age totals 103.
Nevertheless, past experience indicates that regarding the celebrity contest, age is merely a statistic. Arne Duncan, a former U.S. Secretary of Education, consistently appeared, competing in his late forties and early fifties (securing the MVP title in 2014 at the age of 49).
Prominent NFL wideouts Keenan Allen and Amon-Ra St. Brown are also slated to play, alongside ESPN’s very own NBA expert, Shams Charania. Fortunately, the trade cutoff has passed, allowing Charania to participate unencumbered by his device. — Anthony Gharib
Presenting the 2026 @NBAAllStar #RufflesCelebGame lineups
🏀 Friday, Feb. 13 | 7p ET | ESPN
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— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) February 3, 2026
Iconic Collaborations, Aerial Slams, and Dame Time for All-Star Saturday
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)
Will Spida disrupt Dame Time?
Any of the eight competitors in the 3-point event has the potential to achieve a hot streak briefly and secure the victorious score. However, examining each contestant’s 3-point conversion rate on uncontested 3s this season, as per NBA Advanced Stats, the likely frontrunners include Donovan Mitchell (50% on wide-open 3s), Norman Powell (49%), and Jamal Murray (48%). Bobby Portis, Kon Knueppel, and Tyrese Maxey fall within the lower 40s, whereas Devin Booker is significantly lower at 31%.
The final participant is the unpredictable element: Damian Lillard has not appeared in an NBA contest since rupturing an Achilles tendon in the 2025 postseason. Yet, Lillard triumphed in this event in 2023 and 2024, and he might become the inaugural three-time champion of the 21st century. (Larry Bird and Craig Hodges each secured three victories in the 1980s and 1990s, correspondingly.) — Zach Kram
Specialist Selections: Damian Lillard
Fresh participants and a familial occasion for the dunk challenge
This group isn’t the most talent-laden in the history of the dunk competition, and three out of the four contenders have rarely executed dunks in NBA matches. Jaxson Hayes is a seasoned seven-year player with a respectable number of forceful dunks from the center spot, yet second-year forward Keshad Johnson and first-year players Carter Bryant and Jase Richardson have registered only minimal dunk counts this season.
At a minimum, there’s a notable legacy within this group. Richardson’s father is Jason Richardson, who claimed consecutive dunk contest titles in 2002 and 2003 – a period preceding Jase’s birth. — Kram
Specialist Selections: Keshad Johnson
When you make a request to a shooting star(s)
Instead of the skills competition, the NBA is reinstating the shooting stars event, which formerly took place from 2004 to 2015 and involved three-person squads: an active NBA athlete, an NBA icon, and a WNBA player.
There is no WNBA representation in the revived contest, as an additional active player will join the three-member teams instead. Two particular facets of this year’s squads are prominent: Team Harper – comprising Ron Harper as the NBA luminary and Dylan and Ron Jr. as the present NBA players – presents an engaging familial component, while the inclusion of first-time All-Star Jalen Johnson on Team Cameron is paradoxical, considering Johnson notably departed Duke University midway through his inaugural year to concentrate on his draft preparations. — Kram
Specialist Selections: Team Knicks
Global vs. Domestic? Key Highlights for the All-Star Match
Sunday, 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)
In its most recent endeavor to infuse vitality into the NBA’s mid-season spectacle, the league is leveraging NBC’s Olympic broadcast by implementing a Team USA against The World structure. Regrettably, however, the three-team round-robin championship has already seen the withdrawal of several prominent players, as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Stephen Curry have been declared unavailable for the All-Star Game, with further potential withdrawals anticipated.
Nevertheless, there remains at least a degree of optimism that this configuration might stimulate some captivating instances over the weekend. The World squad includes merely one guard (Jamal Murray), and he stands as the sole athlete under 6-foot-8. This could also mark LeBron James’s conclusive All-Star participation, prompting him to possibly attend and perform, desiring to conclude with a grand flourish. Regardless, it will function as another gauge of Adam Silver’s continuous endeavors to revitalize the occasion into a more intensely contested viewing experience. — Tim Bontemps
Match 1: Stars vs. World
Match 2: Stripes vs. Match 1 victor
Match 3: Stripes vs. Match 1 defeated
Match 4: All-Star Final
Specialist Selections: Team World