By: Debadrita Ghosh Image credit: NBA and Twitter
The NBA All-Star Game starters for 2023 have been revealed. Three distinct voting groups selected the starters: the fans made up 50% of the vote, the media made up 25%, and the coaches made up 25%.
We now know who will kick off the All-Star Game which is to start from Sunday, February 19 at Salt Lake City's Vivint Smart Home Arena.
The East vs. West format of the All-Star Game was eliminated by the NBA years ago. There is now an All-Star draft, which will take place live on the day of the game for the first time, and one of the best players will be chosen last.
The starting line-up still includes five players from the Eastern Conference and five from the Western Conference. For each conference, the starting line-up includes three front-court players and two guards. Due to this, Embiid was not selected as the East's starter.
The leader for Eastern Conference teams will be Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the other respective team leaders such as Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, and Donovan Mitchell.
The Milwaukee Bucks' 28-year-old Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, got the second-highest number of All-Star votes, after James. So, Giannis is the captain of the Eastern Conference, while LeBron is the captain of the Western Conference for All-Star 2023.
While LeBron is on the verge of breaking Abdul Jabbar's record, Giannis finds it difficult to believe that averaging 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game for the Milwaukee Bucks on 58.8 percent true shooting qualifies as a "down" year.
Mitchell is currently averaging career highs in points (28.1), Irving of the Brooklyn Nets is averaging 27.2 points and 5.2 assists, and Durant is shooting 55 percent from the field and averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game.