https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30925570/los-angeles-lakers-lebron-james-brooklyn-nets-kevin-durant-named-nba-all-star-game-captainsLos Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant were named the captains for next month's NBA All-Star Game on Thursday night.
James and Durant will pick their respective teams from the remaining 22 All-Stars on March 4 after getting the most votes of any player in either conference. The All-Star Game -- which the NBA officially announced earlier Thursday -- will take place on March 7 in Atlanta.
NBA All-Star Game Starter Pool
The Lakers' LeBron James and the Nets' Kevin Durant are captains for the March 7 event. Each player's score is weighted based on 50% for fan vote, 25% for player vote and 25% for media vote.
The players joining them in the frontcourt from both conferences went exactly as expected, with Durant being joined by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid in the starting pool for the East, while James was joined by LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the West.
The backcourts, however, were more contentious. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry was one starter in the West, while Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic tied Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. Doncic finished second in fan voting but was third -- behind Lillard -- in both media and player voting. That said, Doncic wound up being the pick to start because fan voting -- which made up 50% of the voting, with the players and media getting 25% each -- was the tiebreaker.
In the East, Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, the NBA's leading scorer at 32.8 points per game, got one starting spot after being controversially left off the team last year. It was his first starting nod. The other starting spot went to Nets star Kyrie Irving, as he joined his teammate Durant.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis and Clippers forward Paul George finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the West frontcourt voting, while Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell finished fourth among West guards. In the East, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler finished fourth and fifth in frontcourt voting, while Durant and Irving's teammate James Harden finished third, Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine finished fourth and Celtics guard Jaylen Brown -- who finished second in media voting -- landed fifth.
We can make this a dedicated All-Star Game thread and I can modify the title as updates come
Lebron and Durant captains
WestLebron James
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Jokic
Steph Curry
Luka Doncic
EastKevin Durant
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Joel Embiid
Bradley Beal
Kyrie Irving
Celtics notes.
Tatum finished 4th in the East for forwards, a fair bit behind Embiid.
Brown finished 5th in the East for guards, though, interestingly, the media voted him in 2nd. So the media voters thought Jaylen's play worthy of starting.
Topic: 2021 ASG: Starters and Captains announced (Read 2044 times)