The NBA announced its starters for next month’s All-Star Game on Monday — and, for the first time in a generation, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James wasn’t listed among them.
His teammate Luka Doncic led the Western Conference voting and was joined by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo topped the voting in the East and will be joined by New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown.
But the biggest news of the selection process was the omission of James, who has been selected to and named a starter for a record 21 All-Star Games in his career — every one since the 2005 game in Denver. But this year he was never close to getting enough votes to move into the starting five out West. James missed the first 14 games of the season with sciatica and then got off to a sluggish start once he returned to the court, including having his remarkable streak of 1,297 consecutive games with at least 10 points end in Toronto last month. All of which has left his potential inclusion in this year’s All-Star Game up to the league’s coaches.
Though James was not selected a starter, Curry was, marking the 12th time in his Hall of Fame-bound career that he was named to the All-Star Game as he’s averaging 27.6 points per game while closing in on his 38th birthday. The other player to hit double digits in terms of All-Star appearances Monday was Antetokounmpo, who led the way for the East starters and is in the middle of his latest monster statistical season (28.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists) though his Bucks are mired in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Doncic, meanwhile, resumed his All-Star streak after missing last year’s game with the calf injury that helped precipitate his stunning trade to the Lakers. He is leading the way in fan voting and averaging 33.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.6 assists. It has been another incredible season for Jokic, who before he missed the past couple of weeks with a knee bone bruise was putting up staggering numbers: 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 11 assists. The same can be said for Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, who is averaging 31.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists for the league-leading Thunder.
The other Western Conference All-Star spot went to Wembanyama, who makes his first All-Star start after earning his first selection last season and is averaging 24.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and a league-leading 2.6 blocks per game.
In the East, Antetokounmpo was joined by Cunningham, who is making his second appearance and first start as the leader of the East-leading Pistons, who are on pace to win 60 games after making a meteoric jump for a second season in a row. Another two-time All-Star, and first-time starter, is Maxey, who is averaging over 30 points for the first time in his career and has authored Philadelphia’s recovery to being back in the East playoff picture after last year’s calamitous campaign. Brunson, averaging 28.2 points and 6.1 assists, will be making his third straight All-Star appearance for the Knicks.
The final East spot went to Brown, who is averaging a career-best 29.7 points for the surprising Celtics, who enter Monday night’s showdown against the Pistons in second place in the conference, 4½ games back of Detroit.
The voting process is made up of three groups: fan voting, which makes up 50%; a panel of media voters, which makes up 25%; and player voting, also 25%.
The reserves will be announced Sunday and are selected by the NBA’s coaches.
This year, the All-Star Game has adopted a “Team USA versus the World” format, with the pool of All-Stars eventually being broken up into three rosters; two will be made up of American players, with the third comprising international players.
Monday’s starters were made up of five American and five international players. If, after the 14 reserves are announced, there are fewer than either 16 American or eight international players selected, NBA commissioner Adam Silver will add more All-Stars until those minimums are met to fill out the three rosters in the game.
