LeBron James and Antetokounmpo will be the captains in the NBA All-Star

LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) will be the captains in the NBA all-star game. The All-Star Game will be held in Salt Lake City (Utah) on February 19. Both players have been the most voted by the public in the Western and Eastern conference, respectively. Since 2018, however, the match does not face both conferences, instead the captains will choose the players from their teams. This time, moreover, for the sake of the show, they will do it shortly before the start of the game.

For LeBron James, the man set to break almost all NBA records, it will be his 19th All-Star Game. He will thus surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was elected 19 times between 1979 and 1989, but missed the 1973 game. The Lakers’ number 6 repeats as captain for the sixth consecutive time, while Antetokounmpo takes over from Kevin Durant.

To choose the All-Star starters, fan votes accounted for 50% of the vote, while a media panel and a player panel each weighed 25%. Five players are chosen by each conference

In the Western Conference, in addition to LeBron James, the chosen ones have been Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks). In the East, with Antetokounmpo as captain, the other four selected have been Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets). They are the undisputed stars of their respective teams.

There are 10 players, therefore, from new different teams (Irving and Durant play together for the Nets) who will be on the court in the initial jump of the great American professional basketball party, which completes a weekend in which there will also be mate and triple contest, among other activities. There will be three Europeans in the starting five.

choice of equipment

The seven All-Star alternates from each conference, voted on by the 30 East and West coaches, will be announced on Thursday, February 2. James and Antetokounmpo, as captains, will choose the components of the two teams from the pool of players selected as starters and reserves. For the first time, the NBA All-Star Draft extravaganza will take place right before the game. The players will arrive at the Vivint Arena, with a capacity for more than 18,000 spectators, without knowing which team they will play for.

The captains, starting with the one with the most votes, will first choose players from the group of the remaining 8 starters. The initial quintets will thus be formed. They will then choose their seven alternates from the 14 selected by the coaches, again, regardless of whether they are from the East or the West.

The coaches for each team are determined by the standings two weeks before the All-Star Game. The coaching staff of the East and West leaders are paired with the respective conference captain. However, if the leader’s coaching staff trained in the previous All-Star match, then the second-ranked coaching staff is chosen. In 2022, the coaches were Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat/Team Durant) and Monty Williams (Phoenix Suns/Team LeBron).

Currently, the leaders of the East are the Boston Celtics and those of the West, the Denver Nuggets, both with a wide advantage. Thus, Joe Mazulla, newcomer to the NBA as head coach, and the experienced Michael Malone, are the favorites.

special rules

The game is played with special rules. The biggest difference from a normal NBA game is that a points goal is set to determine the winner. Each team will compete to win each of the first three quarters, each starting 0-0 and lasting 12 minutes. In the last quarter, time will not count, but reaching the points goal.

That score will be set by taking the cumulative total score of the team ahead by adding up the points from the first three quarters and that will add 24 points, in homage to Kobe Bryant’s jersey number over his past 10 NBA seasons. With the clock stopped, the first to reach the points goal will win the match. For example, if the cumulative result of the first three quarters is 105-95, the final score will be set at 129 points. Whoever reaches that number first wins the match. In the example, the team that already had 105 points would have to score those 24 more, while the rival would have to score 34.

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