Breaking Down the NBA All-Star Rosters

LeBron James chose Kevin Durant with the first overall selection and Giannis wasted little time in choosing Durant’s teammate, three-time NBA champion and six-time NBA All-Star Stephen Curry with his first pick from the pool of starters. Antetokounmpo chose size with his next pick, selecting Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who will be making his second appearance in the All-Star Game. Giannis rounded out his starting five with Oklahoma City’s Paul George and Charlotte’s own Kemba Walker, who will get a chance to shine in front of his hometown fans.

Antetokounmpo had the first pick in the pool of reserves and showed great loyalty by choosing his Bucks teammate, first-time All-Star Khris Middleton, and followed it up by selecting Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who will also be making his inaugural All-Star appearance and is having a monster year in Denver, averaging 20.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 7.7 assists. Also joining Team Giannis from the reserve pool are Blake Griffin, D’Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Kyle Lowry and Russell Westbrook, who was originally chosen by LeBron but was traded for Ben Simmons after the draft had concluded. Yes, an All-Star Game trade actually happened on the day of the official NBA Trade Deadline.

The final player for Team Giannis will be Dirk Nowitzki, who along with Dwyane Wade was chosen by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to be included in the All-Star Game festivities due to their amazing contributions to the game over the years. This will be Dirk’s 14th All-Star Game appearance, joining Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Jerry West in a tie for fourth on the all-time list.