NEW YORK (ABC4 Sports) – The starters for the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City February 19th have been announced.
LeBron James, who is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record, has caught Abdul-Jabbar on another page of the All-Star record book.
James was announced Thursday as an NBA All-Star for the 19th time, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star tying Abdul-Jabbar for the most selections in league history. James — the leading overall vote-getter — will be the captain of one of the teams for the Feb. 19 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, while Eastern Conference voting leader Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will captain the other side.
This is the sixth year the NBA has used the captain format for the All-Star Game; James has been a captain every time and has never lost, taking a 5-0 record into this year. Antetokounmpo is a captain for the third time, after also earning that right in 2019 and 2020.
James and Antetokounmpo will pick their teams shortly before the game in Vivint Arena, a newly announced twist and a departure from past years in which the captains picked a week or two in advance of All-Star weekend.
The other eight starters they’ll be choosing from, barring any changes because of injury beforehand, are: Denver’s two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, NBA scoring leader Luka Doncic of Dallas, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Brooklyn teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, New Orleans’ Zion Williamson, and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who made the All-Star Game three times as a member of the Utah Jazz.
“I’m definitely blessed and humbled to be a part of this,” Mitchell said during the televised starters’ announcement on TNT. “To be a part of my fourth All-Star and now to be a starter, I couldn’t be happier.”
The big intrigue was the third East frontcourt spot, where Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid — No. 2 in the NBA’s scoring race entering Thursday at 33.4 points per game — was the odd man out after Antetokounmpo, Durant and Tatum were the top three in the balloting.
Starters — three frontcourt players and two guards from each conference — were selected by a combination of three different votes: fan balloting counted for 50%, media balloting was worth 25% and voting by the NBA’s players made up the final 25%.
The reserves, which are chosen by votes from the league’s coaches, will be announced Feb. 2.
Former Weber State and current Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is expected to receive his 7th All-Star nod, while the Jazz are hoping Lauri Markkanen is selected.
