Norman Powell #24 of the Miami Heat looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center on January 04, 2026 in Miami.
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After more than a decade in the league, Miami Heat guard Norman Powell is on his way to his first NBA All-Star Game.
Powell will represent the Heat as an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve in the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Feb. 15 at Intuit Dome in the Los Angeles area. It marks the first time that Powell has been selected for the All-Star Game in his 11 NBA seasons.
But Heat center Bam Adebayo was bypassed for what would have been his fourth All-Star game appearance. He did not receive enough votes from Eastern Conference head coaches, who voted on the East reserves.
The seven All-Star reserves from each conference were selected this season without regard to position.
Eastern Conference All-Star reserves are Powell, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Atlanta’a Jalen Johnson, the Knicks’ Karl Anthony-Towns, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Detroit’s Jalen Duren.
Western Conference All-Star reserves are Denver’s Jamal Murray, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, OKC’s Chet Holmgren, Houston’s Kevin Durant, Portland’s Deni Avdija, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and the Lakers’ LeBron James.
Powell has been vocal about his hope to make his first NBA All-Star Game season.
“I think so, I think I definitely have made the case,” Powell, 32, said in January when asked whether he believes he has made his All-Star case so far this season. “I’ve learned last year not to get caught up in whether I make it or not. I want to make it, I think I deserve to make it. My peers around the league after games and things like that are telling me that I’m an All-Star and that I should be there. So hopefully it happens for me this year.”
It ended up happening this year, as Powell becomes the 12th different Heat player in franchise history to be selected as an All-Star.
Powell, who the Heat acquired in a three-team trade this offseason for center Kevin Love and forward Kyle Anderson, entered Sunday night’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls at Kaseya Center averaging a career-high 23 points per game on 47.2% shooting from the field and 39.2% shooting from three-point range in his first season with the Heat.
Powell is one of only nine NBA players who entered Sunday averaging at least 23 points per game while shooting 47% from the field or better and 39% from three-point range or better this season. The other eight players on that list are Denver’s duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Los Angeles’ Kawhi Leonard, Houston’s Kevin Durant and Brooklyn’s Michael Porter Jr.
“I believe that he deserves it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Powell’s All-Star case prior to Sunday’s announcement. “And I think probably one of the best compliments you can give him is the fact that he starred in all of his roles that he’s had in his career. He just continues to get better and he’s having his best years after the age of 30. That’s a credit to his work ethic and his dedication to the craft.”
The All-Star Game starters — voted on by fans, current NBA players and a media panel regardless of position — were announced in mid-January.
The East’s All-Star starters are Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, New York’s Jalen Brunson, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey.
The West’s All-Star starters are Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Los Angeles’ Luka Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama.
Under the new NBA All-Star Game format, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games for this season’s showcase event. The process for assigning players to the two U.S. teams will be determined at a later date.
If NBA All-Star voting does not result in the selection of 16 U.S. players and eight international players (which can include American players with ties to other countries, if necessary), then NBA commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars to join either group to reach that minimum. In that case, at least one team would have more than eight players.
Along with Powell’s first appearance in the NBA All-Star Game, the organization will also be represented in at least one more event during All-Star Weekend.
Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware will represent the Heat in this year’s Rising Stars showcase, which will help kick off All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
Rising Stars, which is the annual showcase of top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts, will be played at 9 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Intuit Dome. The event will feature a mini-tournament consisting of four teams and three games, and will be aired live on Peacock.
This marks the first time that Ware has been selected for Rising Stars after missing the cut last season despite being good enough to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
Ware is the 13th different Heat player in franchise history to be selected for the Rising Stars event. That list includes Khalid Reeves (1995), Kurt Thomas (1996), Caron Butler (2003), Dwyane Wade (2004 and 2005), Udonis Haslem (2004 and 2005), Michael Beasley (2009 and 2010), Norris Cole (2012), Kendrick Nunn (2020), Tyler Herro (2020 and 2021), Precious Achiuwa (2021), Alondes Williams (2024), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (2024 and 2025) and Ware (2026).
Following Sunday’s matchup against the Bulls, the Heat has five games left to play before the All-Star break: Tuesday vs. Hawks, Friday at Celtics, Feb. 8 at Washington Wizards, Feb. 9 vs. Utah Jazz and Feb. 11 at New Orleans Pelicans.
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Anthony Chiang
Miami Herald
Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.
