Sporting News All-NBA Teams 2026: Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Victor Wembanyama lead packed field originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The 2026 All-NBA team is going to look a bit different than usual this year. LeBron James has been a mainstay for 21 straight seasons. He will be strangely absent because of the recently-enacted 65 games played requirement, and he's not the only star that will be left off the history books.
Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker both fell a few games short of qualifying. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry will also be off due to only logging 36 and 43 regular season games in injury-plagued years. That's opened up space for some first-timers to make the list.
Here's my unofficial ballot of who deserves one of the 15 All-NBA spots this season.
SN NBA AWARDS:POY (Victor Wembanyama)| ROY (Kon Knueppel) | COY (Joe Mazzulla)
The first four names on this list are unassailable. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is probably going to win his second MVP award, and it's very much-deserved. He's having a better season than last year, upping his shooting percentage across the board for the best team in the league.
Wembanyama and Jokic will finish second and third in the MVP race. Wemby might already be the best defender in league history. He's the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, and his offense is steadily improving to where he broke into the top 15 in points per game. Jokic averaged a triple double with 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game. Those last two numbers led the NBA.
MORE: SN NBA media poll tabs Nikola Jokic's league's 'best' player
Doncic is the clear No. 4. He won this season's scoring title, averaging 33.5 points per game. He took over in the second half of the season and carried the Lakers to a surprising fourth place finish in the ultra-competitive West.
The fifth spot is more up for grabs. I'm giving it to Kawhi Leonard, who quietly had the best season of his career for an up-and-down Clippers team that finished the season 36-19 after starting a miserable 6-21. Leonard remains an unstoppable scorer who can get to his kill spots at any time and is a very good defender.
Cunningham and Brown were the other leading candidates for that final First Team slot. Both have led surprisingly great teams in the East.
Cunningham gave the Pistons just enough offense to win games alongside their suffocating defense. There was some skepticism about Brown's ability to be the man for the Celtics. He proved that completely wrong, upping his scoring by 6.5 points per game thanks to his sterling midrange game.
Durant is a lock for All-NBA selection No. 12 of his career. He carried the Rockets offense, finishing second in the league in minutes played at the age of 37. He maintained sterling 52/41/87 shooting splits on the year despite defenses loading up on him, proving over and over that he is as pure of a scorer as there is in the league.
Maxey took on a big role for the Sixers as well, finishing eighth in minutes and fifth in points. He had to step up and be the No. 1 option on many nights with Joel Embiid in and out of the lineup. His excellent three-level scoring, speed, and pull-up 3's saved their season.
Mitchell has become one of the most underrated stars in the league. His steady scoring and improved defense gets him the last spot.
Brunson, Murray, and Johnson are the three easy selections left for the remaining five spots. Brunson continued his late-game mastery. Murray became a big-time scorer and is long overdue for his first All-NBA nod. Johnson was a walking triple-double as a do-everything point forward for a plucky Hawks team.
The next two selections are where it gets very tough. Holmgren takes one spot. The Thunder deserve two representatives, and Holmgren was the best defender on a historically-great defense. He was no slouch on offense either, hitting timely 3's and being able to score from all over the court.
Ball is my last pick, and he will be a controversial one. His game is polarizing and imperfect. His mistakes can be loud. But his brilliance is undeniable too. He improvises plays that nobody else would think of. He's been the catalyst of a Hornets offense that skyrocketed from 29th to 5th in the league. And he got Charlotte to win 25 more games than last year.
Biggest snubs: James Harden, Jalen Duren, Derrick White, Alperen Sengun, Karl-Anthony Towns, Scottie Barnes, Stephon Castle