By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
For the last few years, the Rising Stars game has been played featuring two teams of ten young players. Team USA and Team World. But wouldn’t it be fun for the fans and the players if this format applied to the real All-Star Game, featuring twenty-four top players from the league?
The best American players would be going up against the best non-American NBAers in a matchup that would make the game more interesting and maybe give a new meaning to the old separation between East and West.
The league experimented this year with a different set-up, as Team LeBron and Team Steph are ready to compete on Sunday night, but Eurohoops brings you a unique, alternative and different idea that could spice things up in the All-Star weekend. Starting it off with Team World and our choices for 2017-2018.
Team World
Starting Five:
- PG: Goran Dragic (Slovenia / Miami Heat)
- The 31-year old veteran is ready for his first All-Star Game, coming off the bench for Team LeBron, but in our imaginary scenario, he would be the starting point guard. He is averaging 17.4 points and 4.7 assists per game leading the Miami Heat to a 30-28 record.
- SG: Andrew Wiggins (Canada / Minnesota Timberwolves)
- Andrew Wiggins is averaging 17.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest for a very good 36-25 Minnesota team. He can provide highlight plays on both ends of the court and would be fun to watch, especially when he would have to go up against twelve of the best Americans.
- SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece / Milwaukee Bucks)
- With averages of 27.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists, the numbers speak for themselves. Giannis Antetokounmpo would be the face of this team as the Greek super-star can do it all on the court. The fun moments, highlight plays, laughs would be there but in the final quarter, he would want nothing less but the win.
- PF: Nikola Jokic (Serbia / Denver Nuggets)
- The 22-year old made history in the game against the Bucks as he recorded the fastest triple-double in the history of the game. He is emerging as one of the best front-court players in the league, scoring (16.9), rebounding (10.6), while also assisting (5.9) night in and night out. The Serbian would assists his teammates in every way possible, with flashy passes, no-look alley-oops and would light up the arena.
- C: Joel Embiid (Cameroon / Philadelphia 76ers)
- For a re-building 76ers squad, Joel Embiid is having a phenomenal year averaging 23.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. What makes him special is that he is only 23 years of age and has a huge upside. The one-time All-Star would also be fun to watch on and off the court.