MINNEAPOLIS — Norman Powell is not lobbying, mind you. But if asked, the Miami Heat guard is not going to deny an ongoing desire for a first NBA All-Star selection.
Snubbed in the view of some when he was bypassed as a Western Conference selection last season when he was with the Los Angeles Clippers, Powell is in the midst of an even better run this season as a leading man with the Heat.
The irony is that the 2026 NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 15 on Powell’s former home court, with the Clippers hosting the event at the Intuit Dome. It was the Clippers’ ill-fated decision to offload Powell in the offseason to the Heat in favor of the ability under the salary cap to add Bradley Beal and John Collins. Beal is now out for the season due to a hip fracture, while Collins has provided little amid the Clippers’ uneven start to the season.
“I think I definitely have made the case,” Powell said of the unlikely script of making the All-Star Game for the first time three months shy of a 33rd birthday. “I’ve learned last year not to get caught up in whether I make it or not.”
No, the snub of 2025 has not stripped the desire for 2026.
“I want to make it. I think I deserve to make it,” he said, with the Heat opening a four-game trip on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. “You know, 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.”
Making it through the balloting process appears unlikely, with Powell 18th in the Eastern Conference initial release of fan balloting last week. The five starters from the Eastern Conference will be selected through a combination of fan (50%), player (25%) and media (25%) balloting.
Unique this season is the balloting and selection process is not position-specific.
Under that scenario, it would seem the longest of longshots for Powell to place in the top five in the East’s combined balloting process when considering the candidacy of East players such as Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, with all six with higher scoring averages.
Following the combined balloting process, coaches will select seven All-Star reserves from each conference.
The Heat have had a single All-Star selection in each of the past four years, with Tyler Herro a first-time selection last year, Bam Adebayo selected in 2024 and ’23, and Jimmy Butler selected in 2022.
“Hopefully it happens for me this year,” said Powell, who went into Tuesday leading the Heat in scoring at 24.4 points per game, eighth among East players. “But for me, the goal is to go out there and win and showcase all my hard work and leave it up to the fans, the coaches that make those decisions.”
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As with most players, the voting amid annual adjustments stands as somewhat of a murky process to Powell.
“I don’t know how much the media has in it,” Powell said while addressing the media (one media voter from each team’s media market casts a ballot). “I know the voting has changed over the years, but my case is to go out there and help them win.”
And then, yes, a degree of lobbying, since it seemingly never hurts.
“And from doing that, if outside people believe I should make it, I’ll be there,” said Powell, whose only NBA hardware or honor to this stage was his 2019 NBA championship ring with the Toronto Raptors. “But I do believe that I am an All-Star. I’ve always seen myself as that, and something that I’ve always wanted to work towards in my career.”
