East’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell and West’s Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James were selected as NBA All-Stars. The results of the vote were announced on TNT on Thursday.
James will make his record 21st consecutive All-Star start, and Curry, the longtime face of the Golden State Warriors, is now officially serving as weekend host with his 11th All-Star appearance. So far, the Knicks are the only team with two All-Stars, despite previously finishing third.
Meanwhile, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball didn’t make it despite receiving the most fan votes among Eastern guards, and in the West, second-year sensation Victor Wembanyama narrowly lost to Durant for the third starting spot among front-court players.
The annual All-Star “event” — remember, it’s not just “one game” this season — is Feb. 16 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
50 percent of the starter selection formula is fan voting; Current NBA players and a media panel each account for 25 percent. Ball, who was fourth in the league in scoring at 29 points per game, was ranked third in player voting and seventh by the media. Brunson, who averaged 26.0 points for the New York Knicks, edged Ball in media and player polls.
All other players selected as starters won the fan vote at their respective positions. However, Wembaniyama, that year’s princess rookie, who leads the league in blocks at 4.0 per game with his 24.6 points and 10.8 boards, nearly surpassed Durant to finish second among media members.
Seven reserve league head coaches from each conference will be selected and the results will be published. 30 January. There will be plenty of interest to see who makes it in a crowded field of talented point guards from the East. Besides Ball, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks will get strong consideration as the top assist man in the NBA (11.6 assists per game), as will Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks and possibly Tyrese Halliburton. Darius Garland of the Indiana Pacers or Cavs.
Look for Cleveland’s Evan Mobley and potentially teammate Jarrett Allen to get strong consideration as reserves. Miami’s Bam Adebayo will also get an extended look.
hide The Dallas Mavericks’ Doncic, a perennial MVP candidate, played in just 22 games this season due to injury, but averaged 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists in those games. Anthony Edwards of Minnesota has also been given strong consideration as a reserve guard. The Lakers’ Anthony Davis will also join James as an All-Star.
A new all-star format
For the first time, the All-Star “Game” is now a three-team mini-tournament made up of 24 stars and the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge — which features the league’s top rookie and second-year players. Because of the new format, obviously, some players who were selected by the coaches as All-Star “reserves” will be starters for their tournament teams.
The 24 All-Star players will go into a pool to be selected by three TNT analysts — Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal — who serve as honorary general managers for the three All-Star teams. They will split into three teams of eight All-Stars on Feb. 6 before TNT’s weekly doubleheader.
The new format will include three games – two semi-finals and the championship – where the winning team will be the first to reach 40 or more points. There is a prize money pool of $1.8 million with the champion team earning $125,000 per player.
Oklahoma City coach Marc Daigneault and Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson earned spots as coaches for the All-Star event, as their teams finished first in their respective conferences by the league’s Feb. 2 cut-off date.
One of Daigneault’s assistants will coach the Rising Stars champion or third All-Star team, and one of Atkinson’s assistants will coach the other. Daigneault and Atkinson will both serve as All-Star head coaches for the first time.
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(Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
