(Los Angeles) Unsurprisingly, LeBron James was selected for his 20e All-Star Game, a record, and will notably play against Giannis Antetokounmpo on February 18 in Indianapolis, the NBA announced Thursday.
In the Western Conference team, LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) celebrates his 20th at 39e All-Star selection in 21 NBA seasons, bettering the record he co-held with another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He leads a major five where he is joined by Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), the Serbian Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), the Slovenian Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and the Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, leader of the surprising team of Oklahoma City, co-leader of the Western Conference.
In the East, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo will play with his teammate at the Milwaukee Bucks Damian Lillard, the Cameroonian Joel Embiid (Philadelphia Sixers), Jayson Tatum (representative of the Boston Celtics, best team of the season) and Tyrese Haliburton, leader of the electric Indiana Pacers, who will have the honor of playing the all-star game at home.
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks) are among the main absentees for the moment, with the stars of the Los Angeles Clippers (Paul George, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard) or the players of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards), yet co-leaders in the West.
French recruit Victor Wembanyama was also not selected among the starters, for whom the fans’ vote counted at 50%, and was supplemented at 25% by the players’ choice and 25% by those of specialized media .
The Spurs giant still has a chance to play in his first All-Star game if he is chosen among the replacements by the coaches of the 30 NBA franchises, who will unveil the completed selection on February 2. “Wemby” has already announced its participation in the skills competition held on February 17.