NBA released the squads for the 2018 NBA All-Star weekend on January 25. Team Stephen has James Harden, Demar DeRozan, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid to join Stephen Curry as the starters. Curry also picks Clay Thompson, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Karl-Anthony Towns and Al Horford.

On the other side, Team LeBron has Kevin Durant, Kyrie Erving, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins to become the starting-five with LeBron James. Their captain also selects Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Bradley Beal, John Wall, LaMarcus Aldridge, Victor Oladipo and Kristaps Porzingis.

With six organizers in his team, Stephen Curry has the smartest players on the court. Curry, Lillard and Lowry are all authentic point guards (PG). Harden switched to PG in 2016 and has proved that he is more capable of making a commander of his team. Draymond and Giannis are the first organizers of transition offense of their teams. Horford makes the most assists per game with the Boston Celtics while Towns was the champion of NBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge in 2016.

By comparison, LeBron James probably has the most intimidating team in height in All-Star history. Of the five starters, Durant, Davis and Cousins are all over seven feet. LeBron has been an over-size player for years. They also have the league's tallest player, Porzingis, and Aldridge who has one of the biggest body advantages as the power forward on the bench. Wall, too, can dominate his opponents with his height.

Expected but still surprising, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are in the same team again, fighting Stephen Curry, Clay Thompson and Draymond Green. Their last season fighting as teammates was in 2016 when they were so close kicking the Golden State Warriors out of the play-off. With a 3-1 lead in hand, the Thunders in the end lost to the defending champion led by Curry, Thompson and Draymond. It was also after that season when KD decided to leave Oklahoma City for Oakland.

After that decision, Durant and Russell put their steps onto totally different paths. KD found the best teammates he ever had, taking his first ring and FMVP in his career. On the other side, Russell became the rare "one-man hero" in today's league by finishing the first triple-double season after the "Big O" Oscar Robertson and becoming the NBA MVP in 2017.

Though Durant tried to reach out to Russell for manners after he had left, the latter refused to make any response. Ironically, their first conversation happened in 2017 when they exchanged trash talks on the court. All these have made the moment when KD delivered an alley-oop for Russell during the 2017 NBA All-Star game so valuable. Even their teammates were cheering and applauding for this performance. Many basketball fans in China posted "I'm in tears for this" on the internet. So what sparkles are we expecting from the 2018 All-Star game between the old twin stars of OKC?

NBA All-Star game has never been a "either you or me" game but a party for both players and fans. But one of its attractions is that these star players will, in moment, usually at the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, become serious and bring the real competition to the game.

However, in the last four years, this tradition was fading away. The two teams could still score and kept scoring more points actually. They made tons of three-point shots and put less and less defense on the court. In 2017, the West defeated the East by 192 to 182, taking 374 points in total, which was the highest in the league's history.

This is apparently not what NBA wants. Chirs Paul, President of The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and Michael Jordan who represents team owners, had a discussion with Commissioner Adam Silver about reforming the All-Star system in the summer of 2017. As a result, NBA cancelled the traditional "East VS West" mode and authorized the two captains to pick their teammates for the game. The league has already begun their efforts to make the All-Star game more competitive again and the answer will be found in Los Angeles in February.

The 67th NBA All-Star weekend will be held at the Staples Center in downtown LA from February 16th to 18th, including the Celebrity Game, Rookie Challenge, Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest, Slam Dunk Contest and the All-Star Game.