This afternoon, the NBA announced its 2026 All-Star starters, and on Feb. 15, a very deserving Sixer will be on the court for the opening tip in Los Angeles.
This will be Tyrese Maxey’s first All-Star starting appearance, after previously making the team as a reserve in 2024. Through 38 games, Maxey has averaged 30.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks (all career-highs). He is third in the league in scoring and 15th in assists per game.
As a reminder, starters were selected based upon a combined vote from fans (50%), current NBA players (25%), and media (25%). This year was the first time starters were selected without regard for position. The game format this year will be two U.S. teams and one international team playing a round-robin tournament with four, 12-minute games. Will this format be the one that cracks the code for the ‘players aren’t playing very hard’ problem? Spoiler alert: it will not.
Regardless, congratulations to Tyrese on the well-deserved honor. Sixers fans will look forward to seeing him representing the Sixers as part of one of the U.S. teams on Feb. 15.
I presume in addition to this mid-season recognition, we’ll be seeing an end-of-season accolade come Maxey’s way in the form of an All-NBA team spot. One percent better every day, indeed. As always, it’s worth taking a moment to think about how dark this period of Sixers basketball could have been if Maxey had not fallen to the 21st overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Thank you, Mike Muscala.
