For those unaware of the NBA All-Star game and its format, the purpose of this event is to celebrate the current dominant NBA players and rising stars while highlighting their individual skills and the growth of the league. Typically, the event is capped off with an East Stars vs. West Stars, where fifteen of the best basketball players from each conference play against each other (with varying degrees of competitive intensity). However, this year has highlighted a major change in the format. As the league has been taken over by international talent, the format has been adjusted to a three team, 12 minute, round-robin tournament, with two U.S. Teams and one World team. There will now be 24 selected players overall, with seven players selected for each team and three reserve players (one for each team). 16 of the 24 players have to be American and 8 of them must be international players. As another brief reminder, any player who doesn’t qualify for the new 65 game requirement, like LeBron James, is instantly eliminated from my selection pool. Anyone who is currently predicted to be injured for a large amount of time, like Jayson Tatum, will also be excluded from my lists.

As to why I am writing this article, I attempted to predict the first-time 2025-2026 NBA All-Stars in September. As I continued editing it and improving it, the NBA season started and my predictions were immediately proven wrong. To pivot and better predict the remaining five months of NBA regular season play, I am expanding my list to predict the All-Star Teams this year. To make this article digestible, I will be splitting this into three parts and starting with the 2026 NBA World All-Stars.

1. Starting Frontcourt Player: Center: Serbia: Nikola Jokić (Stats: 29.0 pts, 12.8 rebs, 11.1 asts, 1.5 stls, 0.8 blks, 62/43/85 splits, 20 games played) 

This is the easiest selection for an All-Star team I’ve had to make so far. If you are an avid basketball fan and understand the statistical dominance that Jokić has had for the last five years, you can easily understand why he would be my first draft pick. If you aren’t a basketball fan, all you need to understand is that Nikola Jokić is the best player in the world, has been the best player in the world since 2023, and is on track to being a top 10 NBA player of all time. Enough said.

2. Starting Backcourt Player: Point Guard: Canada: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Stats: 32.8 pts, 4.7 rebs, 6.5 asts, 1.5 stls, 0.7 blks, 54/45/88 splits, 22 games played) 

Honestly, it’s just unfair comparing this hypothetical World team to the U.S.A. teams. If there was another player who could argue for the title of best player in the world, it would be the electric Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He has been scoring at an all-time level with the efficiency to excel past scorers like James Harden, while being the reigning NBA Finals MVP and possibly leading his Thunder team to the greatest regular season performance since the 73-9 2016 Golden State Warriors. His smooth handles will be a joy to watch as always as he coasts his way into the starting World shooting guard position (since there is another player who is a bit more fitting for the traditional point guard slot).

3. Starting Backcourt Player: Point Guard: Slovenia:  Luka Dončić (Stats: 35.3 pts, 8.9 rebs, 8.9 asts, 1.6 stls, 0.6 blks, 48/34/81 splits, 16 games played) 

After a down year due to injuries and the most surprising betrayal and trade from a sports organization in this century, the prodigal Slovenian son has come back hungry for a trophy. Luka Dončić is once again balling out in Hollywood, leading the league in scoring while he takes the reins of LA from LeBron James. It’s looking snowy in California as Dončić and Austin Reaves rain down threes while J.J. Redick’s coaching heavily improves the ceiling of the team. I’m sure Patrick Dumont regrets letting Nico Harrison trade Luka everyday, especially since he can no longer walk around the city of Dallas without an angry Mavericks fan booing him for the infamous trade.

4. Starting Frontcourt Player: Power Forward: Greek: Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.6 pts, 10.7 rebs, 6.4 asts, 1.0 stls, 1.0 blks, 64/43/63 splits, 16 games played) 

At this point, it becomes redundant to even recognize the greatness of these international superstars. “The Greek Freak” has been in contention as the best player in the league since 2019, and this year is no different. While he has slowed a bit since his explosive performances at the start of the year, the only thing holding Giannis back from the recognition he deserves is the horribly constructed team around him in Milwaukee (which he might be fixing based on his recent actions on social media). Regardless of his team’s performance, Giannis is a top 25 NBA player ever on track with Jokić to reach even higher levels of NBA stardom. For this team especially, he will bring the defensive intensity necessary to win at the highest level in a 12 minute game.

5. Starting Frontcourt Player: Center: French: Victor Wembanyama (Stats: 26.2 pts, 12.9 Rebs, 4.0 asts, 1.1 stls, 3.6 blks,  50/34/86 splits, 12 games played) 

As we switch to the final starting player, I just can’t resist it. Most NBA fans can’t resist it. It’s been the same feeling for us as it was for fans in the 80s when Michael Jordan was dropping 60 in his third year against Larry Bird. It’s the same feeling as when 2000s fans were watching LeBron dominate the Eastern Conference at 22. If Victor Wembanyama remains healthy, dominant and consistent for at least six more seasons, he will be in the top 10 conversations for me, no questions asked. While these are steep standards that only a true prodigy could perform, I have no doubts that Wemby wouldn’t be able to accomplish that level of greatness. We’ve never seen a player at 7’4” be such a skilled ball handler, shoot the three-ball with good efficiency, pass at a good rate, play around the perimeter, and dominate in the interior while still being a complete defensive menace. As of right now, there is no one in the stratosphere of defensive talent and skill as Wembanyama and he is only in his third year. It’s fitting that the sky’s the limit for the man who can reach closer to it than most. Let’s just hope he recovers fast from his current injury to qualify for his All-Star selection.

6. Wildcard Frontcourt Player: Center: Turkish: Alpheren Şengün (Stats: 22.8 pts, 9.1  rebs, 7.3 asts, 1.2 stls, 1.1 blks, 50/39/73 splits, 18 games played)

7. Wildcard Backcourt Player: Point Guard: Australian: Josh Giddey (Stats: 21.0 pts, 10.0 rebs, 9.2 asts, 1.0 stls, 0.4 blks, 49/39/74 splits, 19 games played)

8. Reserve Player: Small Forward: Israeli: Deni Avdija (Stats: 25.8 pts, 7.1 rebs, 6.1 asts, 0.5 stls, 0.7 blks, 47/38/80 splits, 21 games played)

Now for the Wildcard Players, I’ve respectively chosen Alpheren Şengün, Josh Giddey, and Deni Avdija. All three of these players are rising international stars who have been slowly developing their skills within the last three seasons. The young Turkish star Şengün has been the offensive maestro behind the Houston Rockets’ success and will be a great replacement when Jokić needs to take a break during the tournament. Josh Giddey has been on an all-time improvement season, improving his three point shot and truly capitalizing on his all around threat with his excellent playmaking—garnering multiple triple doubles. Deni Avdija is another versatile forward, known for his athleticism and all-around talent, who will be perfect to add more intensity in clutch or lockdown situations. With these Wildcard players, new international talent is recognized while a wonderful team is built to compete against the U.S.A.’s best talent.

Unfortunately the smaller size of players allowed to be drafted has limited my choices for who to recognize. While international players such as Pascal Siakam or Lauri Markkanen were just as deserving of this honor, my overall consensus is that these special eight players are my predicted 2026 World All Stars. This constructed team will be able to easily breeze through the tournament if they take advantage of the big size difference between their team and the American teams. Honestly, I’d be shocked if this team lost, but you’ll have to stay tuned to see the other U.S.A. teams I draft and make your own prediction on who will win the 2026 NBA All Star Tournament!

Sources:

All current statistics from https://www.nba.com/stats/leaders