After much consternation over the NBA All-Star Game in recent years, the league is shaking things up with a new format this year: USA vs. World.
So far, so good.
In Game 1 between Team Stars vs. Team World, Scottie Barnes hit a game-winning 3-pointer in overtime to secure the 37-35 win for Team Stars (1-0).
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Anthony Edwards scored 13 points for Team Stars, while Victor Wembanyama led Team World (0-1) with 14 points.
“Wemby set the tone,” Edwards said after the competitive first game.
Team Stars takes on Team Stripes in Game 2.
So how does it work? Three teams — two made up of players from the United States (USA Stars and USA Stripes) and a third consisting of international competitors (Team World) will play in a round-robin tournament, with each team playing each other once. The two teams with the best records will advance to the championship game. Each game will be 12 minutes.
The teams are as follows:
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Team USA Stars: Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Johnson, Tyrese Maxey
Team USA Stripes: Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, De’Aaron Fox, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Stephen Curry (injured, replaced by Brandon Ingram)
Team World: Deni Avdija, Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Norman Powell, Pascal Siakam, Karl-Anthony Towns, Victor Wembanyama, Giannis Antetokounmpo (injured, replaced by D’Aaron Fox), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (injured, replaced by Alperen Sengun)
Start time: 5 p.m. ET
Location: Intuit Dome | Inglewood, Calif.
TV channel, live stream: NBC, Peacock
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest updates from the NBA All-Star Game:
Live16 updates
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 3:14 PM PST
Jason Owens
LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard hit back-to-back 3s early, and Team Stripes has a 19-15 lead over Team Stars at a timeout with 7:08 remaining.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 3:06 PM PST
Jason Owens
The all-U.S. matchup is underway. Team Stars holds court after a Game 1 win and takes on a Team Stripes lineup featuring LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:55 PM PST
Jason Owens
Team World appeared to be in control with a 26-17 lead. But Team Stars rallied to force overtime and was the first to 5 points in overtime in a format where the first team to 5 points wins.
Scottie Barnes’ 3 secured the 37-35 win for Team Stars. With the win, Team Stars holds court and will take on Team Stripes in the second of three round-robin games. Each game is scheduled for a 12-minute quarter, and the top two teams after round-robin play will face off in a final.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:53 PM PST
Jason Owens
We’ve got overtime in Game 1 after Team World and Team Stars played to a 32-32 tie in regulation. The first to 5 points in the extra session wins.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:48 PM PST
Jason Owens
And here’s Victor Wembanyama’s third block of the game, pinning a soft Cade Cunningham layup against the backboard, leading to Kart-Anthony Towns slam on the other end. He’s here to compete.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:39 PM PST
Jason Owens
Team Stars was up early, but Team World reeled of a 14-2 run to take a 26-17 advantage. Victor Wembanyama leads the way so far with 7 points and 3 rebounds. And he’s injecting some defense into the game with 2 blocks as he tries to swat any shot in his vicinity.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:36 PM PST
Jason Owens
With President Barack Obama sitting courtside, Suns All-Star Devin Booker took advantage of the opportunity and dapped up the first basketball fan during a break in the action.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:31 PM PST
Jason Owens
Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are in the house.
They, of course, have good seats. And Barack Obama got in on the action early.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:25 PM PST
Jason Owens
Victor Wembanyama’s presence is expected to amp up the competitive nature of this game. So far so good. Wemby is playing aggressive off the opening tip has Team World’s first seven points.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:21 PM PST
Jason Owens
Up first in the latest new All-Star Game format: Team Stripes featuring Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker vs. the World featuring Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama and Luka Dončić.
They’ll compete in a round-robin format alongside a second team of U.S. players in a mini tournament that will crown a champion after four short games.
The format change is the newest in the NBA’s ongoing effort to field a competitive All-Star game after years of duds in the February showcase. Will it work?
We’re about to find out.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 2:15 PM PST
Jason Owens
The starting lineups have been announced and the All-Star Sunday festivities are officially underway. NBC, in its first All-Star broadcast in 24 years, tipped things off with a live rendition of Roundball Rock, complete with composer John Tesh.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:45 PM PST
Kelly Iko
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks to the media before Saturday’s All-Star festivities. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images)
(Ryan Sirius Sun via Getty Images)
Two minutes before NBA commissioner Adam Silver was scheduled to address the media in an upstairs room at Intuit Dome, his deputy, Mark Tatum, cheerfully shook hands with reporters before taking his seat in the front row.
That the league’s second-in-command was eagerly anticipating Silver’s words, much like the other occupants in the room, was poignant. Given the most prominent talking points that have dominated league discourse lately — the tanking epidemic, sports betting issues and alleged cap circumvention — have become so prevalent, the build-up to Silver’s news conference was seismic.
However, following the duration of Silver’s availability — he spoke for around 30 minutes — there were far more questions as a result of his answers (or lack thereof).
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:30 PM PST
Morten Stig Jensen
The next step for the NBA in embracing basketball globalism is, of course, a new league based in Europe, which has been widely discussed for years and is in the early stages of development.
There has been some concern from people within European basketball communities in regard to how the NBA will implement a league and whether it’ll respect the history of European basketball.
Tatum believes the NBA is indeed taking those considerations seriously.
“We are being very intentional to ensure that our plans in Europe are built on the strong foundations that already exist on the continent. Celebrating, fostering, and elevating the rich traditions and history that make European basketball so special is fundamental to everything we want to create,” Tatum said. “Working closely with FIBA, we’re confident we can design a league that is authentically European — built by Europeans, played by Europeans and designed for European fans — while bringing that experience to more fans across the continent and creating new traditions.
“Our proposed league would give every team in a FIBA-affiliated domestic league in Europe a merit-based pathway to qualify on an annual basis, which we think will benefit players, domestic leagues, the broader ecosystem and, most importantly, fans.”
It’s crucial that Tatum and NBA commissioner Adam Silver stay true to their planned approach, as that is unquestionably the biggest challenge in front of them in regard to developing an “NBA Europe.”
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:29 PM PST
Jason Owens
LeBron James was flippant when asked on Sunday if he plans to play another NBA season. And his answer to the question remains the same as it has been: He doesn’t know.
James was asked about his NBA plans beyond this season during a news conference ahead of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. Here’s his answer:
“I want to live,” James responded. “When I know, you guys will know. I don’t know. I have no idea. I just want to live, that’s all.”
For more, read here.
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:13 PM PST
Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:05 PM PST
Ben Rohrbach
The All-Star Game was once held between teams from the Eastern and Western conferences, facing each other in what looked a lot like an NBA game — four 12-minute quarters and intense competition among the greatest basketball players in the world.
Somewhere along the way, most likely as parties and corporate sponsorships took greater priority throughout the weekend, the players stopped caring as much about competition.
As players took the game less seriously, scores for the first time soared into the 190s in 2016 and 2017, and in 2018 the NBA changed its All-Star Game format for the first time.
The resurrection of the All-Star Game was short-lived, however, and in 2024 Silver reverted to the East vs. West format. It did not go well, as the East beat the West 211-186.
The 2025 NBA All-Star game did not go well. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun /Anadolu via Getty Images)
(Anadolu via Getty Images)
So, Silver instituted a just-as-confusing round-robin tournament last year, featuring three teams of All-Stars and a fourth of Rising Stars, and that, obviously, did not go well, either (Shaq’s OG’s beat Chuck’s Global Stars 41-25).
Rather than scrap the game entirely, ending what was once one of its signature events, Silver made another effort to inspire the same from the players in this confounding USA vs. World round-robin format.
The only thing that will truly change the level of competition is care from the players, who are more incentivized to remain healthy for the teams that pay them millions. If — and that’s a big if — the new format inspires increased competition from players who want to represent their countries, much like the Olympics elicits effort, bring it on.