Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has been named by NBA commissioner Adam Silver as an addition to the U.S. player pool for the 2026 All-Star Game, the league announced Tuesday.
The 75th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 15 will feature two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players, with each team consisting of at least eight players.
Kawhi Leonard Named To Seventh NBA All-Star Game
After the selection of the initial 24 All-Stars, Leonard was added to bring the total number of U.S. All-Stars to 16, the minimum required under the format.
Leonard, 34, earned his seventh All-Star selection of his 14-year NBA career. He was the All-Star Game MVP in 2020 and had been viewed as one of the biggest snubs after the All-Star reserves were revealed on Sunday.
The two-time Finals MVP had also finished 13th in the Western Conference in the second fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2026.
Through 36 appearances (all starts) with the Clippers this season, Leonard is averaging a career-high 27.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 steals, and 32.9 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-6 wing is also shooting 49.7% from the field and 39.1% from deep.
Leonard has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 28 games, including a career-high 55-point outing against the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 28.
All-Star Game To Feature Round-Robin Tournament
Furthermore, the three NBA All-Star Game teams were revealed Tuesday night.
In the round-robin tournament, Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The winning team from Game 1 will face Team C in Game 2, followed by the losing team of Game 1 meeting Team C in Game 3.
After Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to play each other in the championship game (Game 4). If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential in each team’s two round-robin games.
According to ESPN’s report, the U.S. teams were split by age: The older players were assigned to USA Stripes, coached by San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson, and the younger ones to USA Stars, coached by Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff.
Toronto’s Darko Rajakovic was named coach of the World team.
