The NBA on Thursday announced the starting rosters for the All-Star Game which will happen on March 7 in Atlanta, Georgia. LeBron James and Kevin Durant won the most votes in the Western and Eastern Conferences respectively. That means Team LeBron and Team Kevin will headline the league's annual exhibition of entertainment at State Farm Arena.

The rosters came in as follows:

West: LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Kawhi Leonard.

East: Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bradley Beal and Kyrie Irving.

James, unquestionable vote leader

This was the fifth straight time for James to lead the NBA All-Star voting – only Michael Jordan (seven times in a row) is ahead of him. It will be his 17th All-Star Game and the fourth consecutive time as team captain.

That should not come as a surprise because the 36-year-old has averaged 25.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7.9 assists this season, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to rank No. 2 in the West. Not only does James lead the All-Star voting, he also leads in the Most Valuable Player competition so far.

Durant, 'Slim Reaper' comes back

Having missed the whole 2019-20 season, Durant came back and beat Antetokounmpo to lead the All-Star voting in the East. He even received more votes than James in the first stage.

The Achilles tendon injury he suffered has not held Durant back at all. As a top 5 scorer in league history, he has dropped 29 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.6 triples at 43.4 percent per game. Durant is still the most lethal offensive solution the Brooklyn Nets need him to be and one of the major reasons that the team are currently second in the East.

These guys deserve starting spots

People seemed to have forgotten how incredible Curry has been in the past five years and the two-time MVP is playing another epic season. He is averaging 30 points, 5.3 rebounds and six assists per game while draining five triples at 42.5 percent of 3-point rate. No wonder fans, players and press voted for him in the back-court competition in the West.

Mixed feelings surround Antetokounmpo this season. Individually he is still dominant with 28.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. That's definitely the numbers for an All-Star starter. However, everyone expects more from a two-straight-time MVP who continued to be a disappointment in the playoffs. Antetokounmpo needs to make a difference with his game, just like the Milwaukee Bucks need a breakthrough in the postseason.

Jokic, who was seen as the best big man passer in NBA history in the past, has taken his game to the next level this season. His offensive dominance is brilliant enough to put him in this season's contest for the MVP award. Usually, Jokic performs better in the playoffs than he does in the regular season, but can he do it again – 27.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists on average so far – and, more importantly, take the Denver Nuggets further than Conference Finals?

Like Jokic, Embiid is the other center making this season's MVP competition interesting. The work done by the Philadelphia 76ers during the offseason gave Embiid the spacing and the offensive role he wanted the whole time and he gave 29.7 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in return. He's why the 76ers lead the Eastern Conference.

Leonard is putting down solid stats averaging 26.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and five assists as he always does. As there is no telling when Paul George will return, it all falls to Leonard to carry the Los Angeles Clippers. Making the All-Star starting lineup is great, but Leonard is after something bigger, for example, the first Conference Finals trip for the Clippers.

Despite the poor 9-17 record of the Washington Wizards, Bradley Beal has carried on his excellent scoring performance to average a league-leading 32.8 points per game. Since he entered the NBA in 2012, Beal has been underestimated in many ways. This is his second season as team leader and he is on the way to achieving some breakthroughs at the individual level.

Are they really the best choices?

Doncic and Irving made the All-Star starting rosters as well. Judging by their numbers – 29.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.4 assists by Doncic and 28.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists by Irving – they absolutely are two of the best in the league.

Nonetheless, does that mean Doncic is better than Damian Lillard, or Irving deserves a starting spot more than James Harden? At least players and press disagree on the former comparison since more of them voted for Lillard. As for Irving over Harden, it's probably because Uncle Drew's playing style fits better for the All-Star Game.