By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
For the second straight season the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was voted captain from the Eastern Conference, while Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic for the first time in his career was voted as an All-Star starter.
Per NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo lead the list of 10 players – two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference – selected by fans, current NBA players and a media panel to start in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
As the All-Star starters who led their respective conferences in fan votes during NBA All-Star Voting 2020 presented by Google, James and Antetokounmpo will serve as team captains and draft the All-Star Game rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference. The team rosters for the 69th NBA All-Star Game will be revealed on TNT in a special 2020 NBA All-Star Draft presented by Jordan Brand show on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. ET.
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game, featuring Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis, will take place on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the United Center in Chicago. TNT and ESPN Radio will air the game live in the United States at 8 p.m. ET. NBA All-Star 2020 will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.
Along with James (frontcourt), the Western Conference starter pool features the Lakers’ Anthony Davis (frontcourt), the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Dončić (guard), the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (guard) and the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard (frontcourt).
In the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo (frontcourt) is joined in the starter pool by the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid (frontcourt), the Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam (frontcourt), the Boston Celtics’ Kemba Walker (guard) and the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (guard).
James has been named an NBA All-Star for the 16th time, moving into sole possession of third place for the most selections in league history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19) and Kobe Bryant (18). When he takes the court in Chicago, James will set the NBA record for All-Star starts with 16, one more than Bryant (15).
With Dončić, 20, and Young, 21, selected as starters, this marks the second time that an NBA All-Star Game will include multiple 21-and-under starters – a scenario that played out in the 1998 All-Star Game with Bryant (19) and Kevin Garnett (21). The last time multiple second-year NBA players started the same All-Star Game, as Dončić and Young are set to do in Chicago, was the 1996 All-Star Game (Grant Hill and Jason Kidd).
The All-Star Game starters were announced tonight by TNT during the TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by Autotrader pregame show. TNT will unveil the All-Star Game reserves (seven players from each conference), as selected by NBA head coaches, on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. ET during TNT NBA Tip-Off.
In the 2020 NBA All-Star Draft, James and Antetokounmpo will draft the eight remaining players from the starter pool in the First Round and then all 14 players from the reserve pool in the Second Round. The captains will make their selections without regard to a player’s conference affiliation or position.
By virtue of being the top overall finisher in fan voting, James will make the first pick in the First Round (Starters) during the NBA All-Star Draft. Antetokounmpo will have the first pick in the Second Round (Reserves). After the first pick in a round, picks will alternate until all players in that round have been selected.
2020 NBA ALL-STAR GAME STARTER POOL
Western Conference
- Anthony Davis, Lakers (7th All-Star selection): The eight-year veteran is an NBA All-Star for the seventh year in a row. He scored a record 52 points in the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans.
- Luka Dončić, Mavericks (1st All-Star selection): Dončić, who turns 21 on Feb. 28, is set to become the youngest European player to appear in an All-Star Game and the ninth player in NBA history to play in an All-Star Game at 20 or younger. He is the youngest All-Star starter since 20-year-old James in 2005.
- James Harden, Rockets (8th All-Star selection): The 2019-20 NBA scoring leader has been an All-Star in all eight seasons with Houston, matching Yao Ming for the second-most All-Star selections in Rockets history behind Hakeem Olajuwon (12). Harden has been voted to start for the fourth consecutive year.
- LeBron James, Lakers (16th All-Star selection): This will be James’ 16th All-Star Game start in a row, a streak that began in his second NBA season. A three-time All-Star Game MVP, James has scored the most points in All-Star Game history (362).
- Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (4th All-Star selection): Leonard has been named a starter all four times as an All-Star. After starting two All-Star Games with the San Antonio Spurs and one with the Raptors, Leonard is set to become the seventh player in NBA history to start All-Star Games with three franchises.
Eastern Conference
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (4th All-Star selection): The reigning Kia NBA MVP is an All-Star starter for the fourth consecutive year and a team captain for the second straight year. He has the highest scoring average in All-Star Game history with 28.0 points per game.
- Joel Embiid, 76ers (3rd All-Star selection): Embiid is the first 76ers player to be named a starter in three consecutive All-Star Games since Allen Iverson was selected to start seven straight times from 2000-06.
- Pascal Siakam, Raptors (1st All-Star selection): After averaging 6.0 points per game over his first two NBA seasons as the 27th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Siakam won the 2018-19 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award and now will be the first NBA G League veteran to start an NBA All-Star Game. Like Embiid, Siakam is a Cameroon native and former Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camper.
- Kemba Walker, Celtics (4th All-Star selection): This is the fourth consecutive All-Star nod for Walker, who made his first All-Star Game start last season as a member of the Charlotte Hornets.
- Trae Young, Hawks (1st All-Star selection): Young, playing his second NBA season, is the first Hawks player in 44 years to earn an All-Star selection in one of his first two seasons.
NBA ALL-STAR VOTING RESULTS
Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the NBA All-Star Game starters, while current NBA players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each. James (6,275,459 fan votes) and Antetokounmpo (5,902,286 fan votes) led their respective conferences and position groups in fan voting. Dončić (6,111,735 fan votes) and Young (2,829,969 fan votes) also topped their respective position groups in fan voting.
After all votes were tallied, players were ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The two guards and three frontcourt players with the best score in each conference were named NBA All-Star Game starters.
Below are the overall scores – based on results from all three voting groups – for the top finishers at each position. Each player’s score is weighted based on 50 percent for fan vote, 25 percent for player vote and 25 percent for media vote. The formula to determine a player’s score is (Fan Rank * 2 + Player Rank + Media Rank)/4.
Western Conference Frontcourt
| Player (Team) | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *#LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 2. *Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.0 |
| 3. *Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 |
| 4. Nikola Jokić (Denver) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4.5 |
| 5. Paul George (LA Clippers) | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5.0 |
| 6. Carmelo Anthony (Portland) | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6.75 |
| 7. Brandon Ingram (New Orleans) | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7.0 |
| 8. Kristaps Porzingis (Dallas) | 7 | 11 | 8 | 8.25 |
| 9. Rudy Gobert (Utah) | 11 | 9 | 5 | 9.0 |
| 10. Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota) | 9 | 13 | 8 | 9.75 |
Western Conference Guards
| Player (Team) | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *Luka Dončić (Dallas) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 2. *James Harden (Houston) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.0 |
| 3. Damian Lillard (Portland) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 |
| 4. Russell Westbrook (Houston) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 5. Donovan Mitchell (Utah) | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6.0 |
| 6. Devin Booker (Phoenix) | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6.0 |
| 7. Ja Morant (Memphis) | 9 | 7 | 4 | 7.25 |
| 8. Chris Paul (Oklahoma City) | 11 | 9 | 4 | 8.75 |
| 9. D’Angelo Russell (Golden State) | 10 | 12 | 4 | 9.0 |
| 10. Stephen Curry (Golden State) | 6 | 21 | 4 | 9.25 |
*–Voted to start
#–Team captain
Eastern Conference Frontcourt
| Player (Team) | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *#Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 2. *Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 3. *Pascal Siakam (Toronto) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2.75 |
| 4. Jimmy Butler (Miami) | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4.25 |
| 5. Jayson Tatum (Boston) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5.5 |
| 6. Bam Adebayo (Miami) | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5.75 |
| 7. Domantas Sabonis (Indiana) | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7.25 |
| 8. Andre Drummond (Detroit) | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8.75 |
| 9. Tacko Fall (Boston) | 6 | 21 | 7 | 10.0 |
| 10. Khris Middleton (Milwaukee) | 11 | 11 | 7 | 10.0 |
Eastern Conference Guards
| Player (Team) | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *Trae Young (Atlanta) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1.75 |
| 2. *Kemba Walker (Boston) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.0 |
| 3. Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn) | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4.0 |
| 4. Derrick Rose (Detroit) | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5.25 |
| 5. Kyle Lowry (Toronto) | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5.25 |
| 6. Zach LaVine (Chicago) | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5.75 |
| 7. Ben Simmons (Philadelphia) | 8 | 4 | 3 | 5.75 |
| 8. Bradley Beal (Washington) | 9 | 2 | 5 | 6.25 |
| 9. Jaylen Brown (Boston) | 7 | 13 | 11 | 9.5 |
| 10. Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn) | 12 | 9 | 6 | 9.75 |
*–Voted to start
#–Team captain