LeBron James is extending his All-Star data. And Giannis Antetokounmpo is the individuals’s selection, once more.
The NBA revealed the starters – a few of them, anyway – for the revamped All-Star Game on Thursday evening, and there wasn’t a lot in the way in which of surprises. James is now formally an All-Star for the twenty first yr, and Antetokounmpo is now the ninth participant to win the fan vote in back-to-back seasons.
The different starters:
- New York’s Jalen Brunson and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell because the Eastern Conference guards.
- Boston’s Jayson Tatum and New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns because the East frontcourt gamers alongside Antetokounmpo.
- Golden State’s Stephen Curry and NBA main scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as Western Conference guards.
- Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Nikola Jokic because the West frontcourt gamers alongside James.
The starters had been picked by way of a system of weighted balloting: 50% was fan voting, 25% was a media panel and 25% was voting by present gamers.
There are 14 extra All-Stars but to be introduced, they usually’ll be chosen in a vote of the league’s head coaches. That record can be revealed on Jan. 30, and the All-Star Game – now video games, actually – occurs in San Francisco on Feb. 16.
Among the candidates for these reserve spots: San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Dallas teammates Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, reigning All-Star Game MVP Damian Lillard of Milwaukee, Miami’s Tyler Herro, Atlanta’s Trae Young and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball – who led East guard fan voting.
There can be at the least 15 completely different gamers who “begin” on the All-Star Game this season. It’s the primary yr of a brand new All-Star format, with three video games. The 24 All-Stars can be drafted into three groups of eight gamers apiece by TNT personalities and former NBA greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
Those three groups can be entered right into a four-team event, with the remaining squad made up of NBA rookies and second-year gamers from the Rising Stars occasion on All-Star Friday. There are two semifinal video games, with the winners assembly in a championship recreation. The video games ought to go rapidly; the primary group to succeed in 40 factors wins.
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault and an assistant from his employees will coach two of the groups, and Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson and certainly one of his assistants will lead the others.
The final two All-Star Games rewrote the offensive file books. Boston’s Tatum set a person file with 55 factors in 2023, and final yr’s closing rating was 211-186 – the highest-scoring All-Star Game ever.
James is now in line to change into the third participant to seem within the All-Star Game after turning 40. The others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did so at 40 and 41, and Dirk Nowitzki, whose All-Star finale got here when he was 40.
James – a decide for 21 straight years – now has two extra All-Star choices than anybody else in NBA historical past (Abdul-Jabbar was a 19-time decide) and is three years away from anybody else for the longest streak of consecutive choices. Kobe Bryant was picked for 18 consecutive All-Star Games, the second-longest such streak.
James can be set to begin for the twenty first consecutive yr. The second-longest streak of All-Star begins is 13, by Boston’s Bob Cousy.
Antetokounmpo led the way in which with greater than 4.4 million fan votes, giving him essentially the most in that division for the second consecutive yr.
The different gamers who’ve been the general high fan selection in back-to-back seasons are James, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Vince Carter, George Gervin, Magic Johnson, Grant Hill and Yao Ming.
Kobe Bryant led the fan voting 4 occasions, and Dwight Howard did twice, however neither of these gamers ever did it in back-to-back years.
Source: www.dailysabah.com