The All-Star Game already has its headlines after counting the votes of fans (50% of the total), press (25%) and players (25%). LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been named captains of the two teamswho will meet next Sunday, February 19 at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City (Utah), being the players with the most support in the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively.
This will be the 19th All-Star Game for the Los Angeles Lakers forward, a figure that only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had achieved before.. In addition, it reissues a captaincy that it has already worn in the five previous editions since this new system of choice to feet of the teams. For his part, the Greek from Milwaukee Bucks will play with the best in the NBA for the seventh time in his career and he will wear a bracelet for the third time after taking the position from a Kevin Durant who had that honor in recent years.
The rest of the selected stars in the West are Nikola Jokic, Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic and Stephen Curry. Doncic will play the fourth All-Star Game of his career, the third as a starter. In the East, those chosen for glory are Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell.
In the early hours of Thursday, February 2 to Friday, February 3, the 14 substitutes will be announced, 7 for each of the conferences, chosen by the 30 NBA coaches. And, unlike other years, the captains will draft their teammates before the game and not days before as has been the case since 2018.
The most notable absence in the starting five of the East is that of Joel Embiid. Fans, players and journalists have preferred that the three starters for the front court of that Conference are Antetokounmpo, Durant and Tatum ahead of the Sixers center, eternal candidate for NBA MVP with five All-Star Games behind him and 33.4 points (second highest scorer in the League) and 9.8 average rebounds this season. The Cameroonian will be one of the first options, without a doubt, for the technicians within a week.
Format
The duel will also keep the revolutionary elam ending successfully tested in 2020 in Chicago. The game will not last the usual 48 minutes, but will proceed with the system that gave it spice and competitiveness: the first three quarters start 0-0 and the winner of each one gets a financial prize for a local NGO. Before the last set, the scores of the other three are added up and a number of points is added to the highest number (24, in homage to Kobe Bryant). And it is played without a time limit until one of the teams reaches that figure that gives victory.