NBA All-Stars - 2026

NBA All-Star Weekend is a week away, and the rosters have been announced, with one injury replacement so far, and possibly more to come, so I've analyzed each player's data so far this season to determine which players are most deserving of an All-Star spot, and how the rosters would be split up in the new USA vs. the World format.

Starters

East

Jalen Johnson - SF - ATL

Cade Cunningham - PG - DET

Donovan Mitchell - SG - CLE

Tyrese Maxey - PG - PHI

James Harden - PG - CLE*

Cunningham and Maxey were voted as starters, while Mitchell and Johnson were added as reserves. Harden was in the West at the time of voting, but since he was traded to the East, I transferred him over to the East starting lineup. All 5 are Americans.

West

Nikola Jokic - C - DEN

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - PG - OKC

Luka Doncic - PG - LAL

Jamal Murray - PG - DEN

Victor Wembanyama - C - SAS

4 of these players were voted as starters, with Murray the lone exception, but he is more deserving this year than Stephen Curry. All 5 of these players are foreigners.

Reserves

East

Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF - MIL

Jaylen Brown - SF - BOS

LaMelo Ball - PG - CHA

Karl-Anthony Towns - C - NYK

Josh Giddey - PG - CHI

Scottie Barnes - PG - TOR

Jalen Duren - C - DET

Most of these players were selected to the actual All-Star team, minus Ball and Giddey, whom I would select to replace Norman Powell and Pascal Siakim.

West

Deni Avdija - SF - POR

Keyonte George - PG - UTA

Anthony Edwards - SG - MIN

Stephen Curry - PG - GSW

Kawhi Leonard - SF - LAC

Alperen Sengun - C - HOU

Devin Booker - SG - PHX

Sengun and George were not selected for the All-Star team, but should have been, and Kawhi was added as an injury replacement due to Giannis probably not playing. I would have left out Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Chet Holmgren, though all are among my top 35 players for this season.

Rosters

USA

Jalen Johnson

Cade Cunningham

Donovan Mitchell

Tyrese Maxey

James Harden

Jaylen Brown

Jalen Brunson

Keyonte George

Anthony Edwards

Stephen Curry

Kawhi Leonard

LaMelo Ball

Devin Booker

Josh Giddey

Scottie Barnes

Jalen Duren

Injury Replacement if needed: Kevin Durant, Julius Randle

World

Nikola Jokic

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Luka Doncic

Jamal Murray

Victor Wembanyama

Deni Avdija

Alperen Sengun

Karl-Anthony Towns*

*Towns is American, born in New Jersey, but has competed for the Dominican Republic internationally, where his mother was born.

Injury Replacement if needed: Rudy Gobert, Lauri Markkanen

All-Time Player Rank Changes

Giannis Antetokounmpo has passed Moses Malone to move up to #27

Joel Embiid has passed Sam Cassell, Dominique Wilkins, and Jayson Tatum to move up to #76

NBA MVP Rankings - 7 Mar

The NBA season is half over, and nearly every team is still in the playoff hunt, which makes a clear MVP ranking hard, but there is one player who has quietly outplayed every other in the league for the first half of the season, so he is still my pick for the #1 spot at this point. Here are my full MVP rankings, along with my picks for Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man:

MVP

1. (1) Nikola Jokic - C - DEN

27.1 PTS (#8), 11.0 REB (#11), 8.6 AST (#7), 1.6 STL (#6), 0.6 BLK

.567 FG% (#12), .418 3P%, .881 FT%

2. (4) Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF - MIL

29.0 PTS (#5), 11.7 REB (#4), 5.9 AST, 1.3 STL, 1.4 BLK (#12)

.557 FG% (#15), .285 3P%, .661 FT%

3. (5) Joel Embiid - C - PHI

30.2 PTS (#2), 11.6 REB (#5), 3.3 AST, 1.2 STL, 1.4 BLK (#13)

.521 FG%, .416 3P%, .856 FT%

4. (NR) James Harden - PG - BKN

25.3 PTS (#13), 7.8 REB, 11.1 AST (#1), 1.2 STL, 0.7 BLK

.484 FG%, .401 3P%, .859 FT%

5. (2) LeBron James - PG - LAL

25.8 PTS (#11), 8.0 REB, 7.8 AST (#9), 1.1 STL, 0.6 BLK

.509 FG%, .358 3P%, .692 FT%

6. (9) Luka Doncic - PG - DAL

28.6 PTS (#7), 8.4 REB (#17), 9.0 AST (#4), 1.0 STL, 0.7 BLK

.478 FG%, .357 3P%, .757 FT%

7. (NR) Stephen Curry - PG - GSW

29.7 PTS (#4), 5.5 REB, 6.3 AST (#18), 1.3 STL, 0.1 BLK

.478 FG%, .411 3P%, .934 FT% (#6)

8. (NR) Damian Lillard - PG - POR

29.8 PTS (#3), 4.3 REB, 8.0 AST (#8), 1.0 STL, 0.3 BLK

.445 FG%, .384 3P%, .933 FT% (#7)

9. (NR) Nikola Vucevic - C - ORL

24.6 PTS (#18), 11.6 REB (#6), 3.7 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.6 BLK

.483 FG%, .412 3P%, .851 FT%

10. (8) Kawhi Leonard - SF - LAC

26.6 PTS (#9), 6.3 REB, 4.9 AST, 1.5 STL (#9), 0.5 BLK

.511 FG%, .387 3P%, .873 FT%

Honorable Mention: Trae Young - PG - ATL, Bradley Beal - SG - WAS, Kyrie Irving - PG - BKN, Zach LaVine - SG - CHI, Julius Randle - PF - NYK, Ruby Gobert - C - UTA, Zion Williamson - PF - NOP

Rookie of the Year

1. LaMelo Ball - PG - CHA

15.8 PTS, 6.0 REB, 6.3 AST, 1.6 STL, 0.4 BLK

.449 FG%, .378 3P%, .802 FT%

2. Tyrese Haliburton - PG - SAC

13.2 PTS, 3.6 REB, 5.4 AST, 1.4 STL, 0.6 BLK

.494 FG%, .433 3P%, .833 FT%

3. James Wiseman - C - GSW

11.8 PTS, 5.9 REB, 0.7 AST, 0.3 STL, 1.1 BLK

.510 FG%, .370 3P%, .629 FT%

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Chris Boucher - C - TOR

13.6 PTS, 6.5 REB, 1.0 AST, 0.6 STL, 1.9 BLK (#5)

.534 FG% (#20), .445 3P% (#10), .759 FT%

2. Montrezl Harrell - C - LAL

13.8 PTS, 6.4 REB, 1.1 AST, 0.6 STL, 0.7 BLK

.626 FG% (#4), .756 FT%

3. Jordan Clarkson - SG - UTA

17.9 PTS, 4.0 REB, 2.3 AST, 0.9 STL, 0.2 BLK

.447 FG%, .370 3P%, .967 FT% (#1)

4. Thaddeus Young - PF - CHI

12.1 PTS, 5.9 REB, 4.4 AST, 1.4 STL (#14), 0.6 BLK

.609 FG% (#6), .500 FT%

5. Bobby Portis - C - MIL

10.9 PTS, 7.1 REB, 1.0 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.4 BLK

.546 FG% (#16), .500 3P% (#2), .697 FT%