Today, the NBA announced the
starters for the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
The players were selected via three
voting categories: 50% fan vote, 25% player vote and 25% media
vote.
Leading the Eastern Conference
All-Stars is Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Drafted
as the No. 15 pick in 2013 out of Greece, Antetokounmpo is averaging 31.3 PPG, 11.7 RPG
and 6.2 APG this season, and he will make his eighth All-Star
appearance this year.
Joining Antetokounmpo in the
East frontcourt are Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and
Boston Celtics wing Jayson Tatum. Embiid, the league’s reigning
MVP, will make his seventh All-Star appearance while averaging 36.1 PPG, 11.6 RPG and 5.9 APG
for the 76ers this season. Tatum, drafted as the No. 3 pick in 2017
out of Duke, is averaging 27.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 4.4 APG for the
league-best Celtics in his fifth All-Star selection.
In the East backcourt, Indiana
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton will start in front of his home
crowd in just his second All-Star appearance (and first time
starting). Drafted as the No. 12 pick in 2020 out of Iowa
State, Haliburton is
averaging 23.6 PPG, 12.6 APG and 4.1 RPG for the Pacers, who are in
the thick of the East’s playoff race.
Partnering up with Haliburton in
the backcourt is Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, appearing in
his eighth All-Star game and his first as a starter. The Bucks’
prized acquisition gets his chance to start in the East despite a
relatively down year by his standards. Lillard is currently
averaging 25.3 PPG, 6.8 APG and 4.3 RPG, making the Bucks the only
team in the NBA to have two All-Star starters.
Over in the Western Conference,
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is once again at the helm.
Set to make his record-breaking 20th All-Star appearance, James has
been an starter for all of them – a streak that began in 2005 in
just his sophomore season. He is currently averaging 24.8 PPG, 7.4
APG and 7.2 RPG for the struggling Lakers this season.
Joining James in the West
frontcourt are Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns and Nikola Jokic of
the defending-champion Denver Nuggets. Durant, who’s making his
14th All-Star selection, will now be one of 11 players in league
history to be an All-Star 14 or more times. He’s currently
averaging 29.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG and 5.7 APG for the resurgent Suns this
season. Jokic, a two-time NBA MVP, will make his sixth All-Star
appearance while averaging 26.2 PPG, 12.0 RPG and 9.1 APG for the
Nuggets this season.
In the West backcourt are Dallas
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander. Doncic is set to appear in his fifth All-Star
game, and he is averaging 33.6 PPG, 9.3 APG and 8.5 RPG for the
Mavericks this season. Gilgeous-Alexander, in just his second
All-Star selection and first as a starter, is averaging 31.1 PPG,
6.4 APG and 5.6 RPG. He has been the main cog for a young Thunder
team that has exceeded expectations and sit atop the Western
Conference standings.
The All-Star reserves are set to
be announced on Feb. 1 and they will be chosen by the NBA coaches
in their respective conferences. They will vote two guards, three
frontcourt players and two wildcards (any position). If a selected
player is unable to participate due to injury or another reason,
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will do the honors of selecting his
replacement (from the same conference).
This year’s All-Star Game is
also notably changing back to the traditional East-West format,
moving away from the captain-draft system. The previous six
iterations of the midseason festivities featured
the leading vote-getters
from each conference serving as captains who got to draft their
teams, with a certain “target score” format that featured an
untimed fourth quarter in the last four All-Star Games.
