Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the game at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December 19, 2019.
The NBA on Thursday announced the 10 starting players for the All-Star Weekend that is scheduled to happen between February 14 and 16 at the United Center in Chicago.
West: LeBron James (captain), Luka Doncic, James Harden, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard
East: Giannis Antetokounmpo (captain), Trae Young, Joel Embiid, Kemba Walker and Pascal Siakam
LeBron James received the most votes (6,275,459) for the fourth consecutive time, the second-most in league history, only after the seven straight times of Michael Jordan. Despite being 35, James still averaged 25.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game. Soon he will play his 16th All-Star Game.
Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors, Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks, Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks, Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers and Kemba Walker #8 of the Boston Celtics are named NBA All-Star starters, January 23, 2020.
As James' counterpart in the East, Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to dominate his conference. The Greek Freak could drop 30.0 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. More importantly, he only played 30.6 minutes per game to do so. The teammate selection between him and James before the All-Star Weekend will be something to watch.
Three new faces joined the All-Star starting units: Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Pascal Siakam.
Doncic almost made All-Star in his rookie year last season as he received the second-most votes from fans in front-court position. This year the young genius further improved his performance to a new level of 29.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists and finally became an All-Star starter in the West.
James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets, LeBron James #23, Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks and Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Los Angeles Clippers are named NBA All-Star starters, January 23, 2020.
The connection between Young and Doncic made its way even to the All-Star event. They were selected in the same draft and traded for each other by the teams. Both impressed the league in their debut season and performed even better in the second season. Despite the Atlanta Hawks' poor record of 11-34, Young was able to get 29.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game, no wonder Young became Atlanta's first All-Star starter since Dikembe Mutombo.
The Toronto Raptors became the biggest surprise in the East as the team rank third with a 30-14 record. Siakam is the reason they can do it. Having averaged 23.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists, he took over from Leonard to become Toronto's new leader. Moreover, Siakam is also the first player who grew up in the G-League and became an All-Star starter.
The All-Star bench lists will be announced on January 30. The two captains, James and Antetokounmpo, will select members for Team LeBron and Team Giannis on February 6.