The NBA’s first look at the 2026 NBA All-Star fan vote is here, and it reads like a snapshot of star power, plus a few early surprises that will shape the next two weeks of campaigning, clip-sharing, and ballot-stuffing across every corner of the league’s ecosystem.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić sits atop the entire board with 1,249,518 fan votes in the first returns, giving him the early pole position not only in the West, but across the league.
In the Eastern Conference, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo leads with 1,192,296, once again proving that few players bend the league’s popularity contest like he does.
Behind Dončić, the West’s top five is a heavyweight lineup: Nikola Jokić (1,128,962), Stephen Curry (1,031,455), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (878,621), and Victor Wembanyama (769,362).
The East’s next four after Giannis: Tyrese Maxey (1,072,449), Jalen Brunson (1,040,601), Cade Cunningham (1,000,171), and Donovan Mitchell (851,155). A mix of established lead guards and a rising Pistons centerpiece whose fan traction is getting harder to ignore.
The league’s announcement also underlined the mechanics that matter most once the early returns hit the public. Fan voting makes up 50% of the starter selection formula, with current players (25%) and a media panel (25%) rounding out the remaining share.
And in a tweak that continues to reshape the race dynamics, the NBA is again treating the starter pool as positionless, a structure that can create real tension when multiple guards (or multiple bigs) surge at the same time.
Voting runs from Dec. 17 through Jan. 14 (11:59 p.m. ET), giving fan bases just enough runway to build momentum, and just enough time for one viral stretch of highlights to change the order.
All of it is building toward an All-Star weekend that won’t just look different, it’s designed to feel different. The NBA’s new All-Star Game format will feature two U.S. teams and one international “World” team in a round-robin tournament of four 12-minute games, staged Feb. 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and carried by NBC and Peacock.
