LeBron, Giannis lead ASG starters, to be captains
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James led all players in voting for the NBA All-Star Game and will be the game’s Western Conference captain. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Eastern Conference vote and will be captain for the conference’s team.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George and Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant will join James in the Western Conference’s frontcourt. Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Houston Rockets guard James Harden will start for the conference in the backcourt.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James were named captains as starters were announced for the 2019 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte.
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George won a tiebreaker over New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis for the final frontcourt starting spot.
Joining Antetokounmpo in the Eastern Conference’s starting five are Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid, Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker and Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving.
The game will take place in Charlotte on Feb. 17.
This will be James’ 15th All-Star Game start, tying Kobe Bryant for the most in NBA history. James also is tied with Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal for third all-time with 15 overall All-Star Game appearances; only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19) and Bryant (18) have more.
Walker will start the game in his home arena and is the third player in franchise history to start an All-Star Game, joining Eddie Jones and Larry Johnson.
“It’s kind of surreal. It’s kind of surreal,” Walker told TNT. “I had a lot of doubt coming into my early career about just even being an elite point guard in this league. So for me to become an All-Star for two straight years and then now to become an All-Star starter most definitely proves the doubters wrong. So this is an unbelievable moment in my career.”
The format used last season for drafting teams remains in place.
James and Antetokounmpo will serve as team captains. Each captain will draft rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference. Captains can choose players for their teams regardless of conference affiliation.
Reserves will be determined by a vote of NBA head coaches. So if they aren’t voted in as starters, players such as Davis will have to make the team through the coaches’ vote.
The captains’ draft will be televised on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT. It was not televised in 2018, the first year of the captain format.
Reserves will be announced on Jan. 31.
All-Star starters are chosen by a combination of voting from fans, media and NBA players. Among the notable snubs based on fan voting: Dallas rookie Luka Doncic, who was second in the West frontcourt voting; Minnesota’s Derrick Rose, who outpolled Harden for the No. 2 spot in the West guard voting; and Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who fans voted second among East guards in his 16th and final NBA season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.