NBA All-Star lineups including Tyrese Haliburton and LeBron James have been revealed.
Hometown hero Tyrese Haliburton was chosen to start in his first NBA All-Star Game, while LeBron James was chosen to make his record-breaking 20th consecutive start.
Haliburton will start point guard for the East as a representative of the Pacers on their home court on February 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, according to vote results that were made public on TNT on Thursday night for the NBA classic. Alongside him will be guard Damian Lillard of Milwaukee, center Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and current NBA MVP, forward Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee (who received the most votes overall from fans), and forward Jayson Tatum of Boston.
Alongside James in the West are guards Luka Dončić of Dallas, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City, Nikola Jokic of Denver, the reigning MVP of the NBA Finals, center Nikola Jokic, and forward Kevin Durant of Phoenix. The 13-time All-Star is not expected to compete in the game this February due to injury.
James, 39, is a standout forward for the Lakers, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and the top vote-getter in the West. He has started every All-Star Game since 2005, breaking the previous record of All-Star selections held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This will be Gilgeous-Alexander’s first start and second All-Star appearance, similar to Haliburton. With nagging leg problems, James and Haliburton are both sidelined for their teams; hopefully, they’ll be well enough to play in the All-Star Game.
When it came to selecting the starting lineup, the fan vote made up half of the total, while the player and media votes made up the other 25%. NBA head coaches choose the seven reserves for each conference, which will be revealed on February 1.
Actually, there were just two near misses—the second guard position in each meeting.
The media selected Jalen Brunson of the Knicks to start, while the players selected Tyrese Maxey of the 76ers. In the East, Trae Young of the Hawks defeated every other guard in the fan poll. In a tiebreaker, Lillard qualified for his eighth All-Star Game (having received more fan votes than Brunson) and finished tied with Brunson with the highest ranking on any ballot (third place among fans).
Fans in the West favored Stephen Curry, the greatest player in the history of the Warriors, over Gilgeous-Alexander; nevertheless, players and journalists voted for the Canadian.
Curry is currently a nine-time All-Star and has started all eight of the All-Star Games that he has participated in (he was injured in last year’s game). Curry led the league in 3-pointers made, averaging 26.7 points and shooting 40.1 percent as of Thursday. However, the Warriors are currently having a very difficult time, and the combined effect of Gilgeous-Alexander and Dončić’s victories, along with Curry’s own poor performance, was too much for Curry to overcome.
The 73rd installment of the NBA’s All-Star Game reverts back to the old format — last seen for the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans — of players playing for the East and West conferences, instead of being picked, playground style, by the top vote getter from each conference.
In addition, the game will be played in four 12-minute quarters, just like a regular game, as opposed to the “Elam” scoring methodology, which has been in use since the 2020 event in Chicago and involved a target score for each side in an untimed fourth quarter to determine the winner.
James will be captain for the seventh time in his career, seventh year overall, and sixth year out of the West. Captains are still in place, and they are once again determined by the vote totals in each conference. It will be Antetokounmpo’s third captaincy.
Additionally, adhering to current customs, the team with the greatest score at the end of each quarter will receive funds for the charity of their captain’s choosing.
Over the years, the All-Star Game has undergone modifications in an effort to bring back the entertainment and competitive edge that the league, fans, and media all believed had been lost. The league opted to go back to its previous scoring formula after last year’s match in Salt Lake City was such a disaster, despite some early success (the All-Star games in 2020 and 2022 were better under the “Elam” scoring model). with a single disclaimer.
Just put forth more effort when playing.
NBA vice president Joe Dumars declared in October that “All-Star Weekend has turned into this incredible weekend, and it is.” But the game can’t be an afterthought where guys don’t play (hard) at the end of All-Star Weekend. We have conversations with players about putting up a fantastic performance on the final night, which is Sunday night, and going out there and competing.
With 34 games played this season, Haliburton, who is now sidelined due to a hamstring ailment, has averaged 23.6 points and a league-high 12.6 assists. Along with Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and John Stockton, Haliburton became the third player in NBA history to record consecutive games with 20 points and 20 assists last month.
Regarding Haliburton, who is 23 and competed for USA Basketball last summer, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, “When you’re 23, 24 years old, you want to keep pushing to higher levels, keep pushing yourself to higher levels of play on the floor.” “Those actions result in increased recognition and status, but the cycle never ends. You can never breath with things like this. …You can not look at it that way, and I don’t see Tyrese looking at it that way. I think he has far bigger fish to fry when it comes to his devotion to the organization, the city and what he wants to be a part of with this team’s success.”
James is breaking “oldest player to ever” records left and right while sidelined due to an ankle injury. His current scoring average of 24.8 points per game would be his lowest since his rookie campaign if it continues. However, James—who turned 39 in December—continues to average 7.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. Behind Anthony Davis, who is having a fantastic individual season (25.1 ppg, 12.2 rebounds per game) and is almost certain to be chosen as an All-Star reserve, he leads the Lakers in scoring.
At an absurd 36.1 points per game, Embiid leads the NBA in scoring. Dončić (33.6 ppg), Antetokounmpo (31.3 ppg), and Gilgeous-Alexander (31.1 ppg) are next in line. Leading the league in games with 30 or more points is Gilgeous-Alexander.
Embiid has now appeared in seven All-Star games. Dončić and Tatum are now five-time All-Stars, and Jokic has made it six times.
