This year’s All-Star Game is going old-school: No captains drafting teams playground style. No target score in the fourth quarter.
It’s East vs. West for four 12-minute quarters, just like the game we watched growing up. Thursday the starters for that game were named, a combination of the vote of fans (50% of total), players (25%) and media (25%). Everyone had to select two guards and three frontcourt players for each conference.
EASTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS
G. Tyrese Haliburton
G. Damian Lillard
F. Giannis Antetokounmpo
F. Joel Embiid
F. Jayson Tatum
WESTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS
G. Luka Doncic
G. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
F. LeBron James
F. Kevin Durant
F. Nikola Jokic
The reserves — seven for each conference — are selected by a vote of the coaches and will be announced next week. That’s where the real snubs come.
The news he will start in Indy made Durant happy.
Thanks to the fans, media and most importantly my peers for voting me into my 14th all star game. Can’t wait to lock in and hoop with some of the greatest ever in Indy..
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 26, 2024
A few thoughts on these starters
• New York fans are livid that Jalen Brunson didn’t get an East starting spot — he was tied with Lillard in weighted scoring across fans/media/player voting, but the tiebreaker is the fan vote and Lillard was third to Brunson’s fifth. It’s a little bit of a surprise that the hero of the largest market in the nation came in fifth, but that’s the reality. Lillard gets the starting spot, Brunson is a lock as a reserve.
• The fan vote had Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic as the West starting backcourt, but the player and especially media votes put Gilgeous-Alexander over the top and into the starting spot. Both the media and players had Doncic and SGA as starters, but the media had Curry fourth in the West (also behind Anthony Edwards), which opened the door for the Thunder guard. Curry is a lock as a reserve. The media and players had Devin Booker fifth in the rankings, while the fans had Kyrie Irving fourth and Edwards fifth, with Booker somehow eighth.
• There were no other real surprises. The East and West frontcourts were unanimous from the fans, players, and media.
• For the third straight year, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James were the top vote-getters in their conference and are ceremonial captains (but no team-building responsibilities this year).
• This is LeBron’s 20th consecutive NBA All-Star selection and yes, that is a record (he’s actually just extending the record he already owns).
• This is the first All-Star start for both Haliburton and Gilgeous-Alexander (and the second overall start for both).
• With the East front court, the fans had Jimmy Butler fourth and Jaylen Brown fifth, while the players had Paolo Banchero fourth and Bam Adebayo fifth. The media had Adebayo fourth and Brown/Banchero tied for fifth. However, in every case the top three were way out in front, this wasn’t close.
• The players had the Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey second in East guards (behind Haliburton), with Jalen Brunson third and Lillard fourth. The fans had Young second, Lillard third and Donovan Mitchell fourth, with Brunson fifth. The media had Brunson second, Maxey third and Derrick White fourth, with Lillard fifth. As noted above, with the weighted scoring that left Brunson and Lillard tied, with the fan vote that had Lillard third as the tiebreaker.
• In the West frontcourt, there wasn’t a lot of drama as the fans, players, and media all had LeBron, Jokic, and Durant as the top three in different orders. The players and media both had Kawhi Leonard fourth and Anthony Davis fifth, while the fans had Davis fourth and Alpren Şengün of the Rockets fifth.
• The All-Star Game takes place Sunday, Feb. 18 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game will air on TNT, as will the All-Star Saturday Night Dunk Contest and 3-point Contest, as well as the Friday night Rising Stars games.
