Since Thursday, fans all over the world have been able to choose the All-Star starters of the Eastern and Western Conference – initially exclusively via NBA. com and the official NBA app. Until the game of the best on 18. There are still a lot of games to be played in February – but who would have deserved the trip to Los Angeles so far?
At 7 p. m. German time the voting process will be opened on Thursday, for the time being it will only be possible to vote via NBA. com and the official NBA app. On Christmas Day, the NBA will open its doors on all channels at 5 p. m. as usual – voting can then be done via Facebook, Twitter, Google and for the first time via voice control via Amazon Alexa.
The format of the game itself has undergone an innovation. As always, 12 players per conference are sent to play in Los Angeles, but the East will no longer face the West. Instead, the two players with the most votes are now chosen as captains and can alternately select the remaining members of their team.
Initially it had been planned that this process would not be transferred – but after LeBron James, among others, complained about it, this could now be reconsidered.
The teams will meet on 25. This is announced on January 1,2010 as part of a one-hour special at TNT. The game will take place on 18. February.
Kyrie Irving (Boston Celtics): Uncle Drew has mastered the jump to his team’s alphabet quite brilliantly and is still standing there with the Celtics, even though the defense has been somewhat weakened lately. Kyrie defends better than ever, is the leader of his team – and continues to be a beast in crunchtime. Quite apart from that, he’s scratching at the 50/40/90 club.
Stats: 24.7 Points, 4.9 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 2.3 Turnover, 49/40/89 Splits
Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers): The very high favourite for the MIP Award also belongs to this team. What Oladipo delivers to the Pacers in his first season is very strong. And of course it’s not only because he left OKC – he also worked extremely hard on himself, his game and his body. Bravo!
Stats: 24.8 Points, 5.5 Rebounds, 3.9 Assists, 1.8 Steals, 1 Block, 48/43/78 Splits
LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers): You don’t have to justify it, do you? LeBron’s figures are on average better than in his four MVP years.
Stats: 28.2 Points, 8.3 Rebounds, 9.3 Assists, 1.4 Steals, 1.1 Blocks, 57/41/78 Splits
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks): In order for Giannis to really blow up the MVP conversation, the bucks must be a whole lot better than they are now (15-13). But the Greek himself is beyond any doubt – the second best scorer of the current season is a walking laboratory experiment and could dominate the NBA for years to come. And he’s still only 22 years old!
Stats: 29.7 Points, 10.6 Rebounds, 4.6 Assists, 1.9 Steals, 1.5 Blocks, 55/27/77 Splits
Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers): The Sixers have broken in quite a bit recently, but Embiid is the one with the highest ceiling and, of course, the greatest showman potential among all centers in the east. With all due respect to Drummond or Horford: In the All-Star Game we prefer to see Dream-Shakes as offensive rebounds or cleanly executed offball screens. The discussion about the All-NBA teams might look a little different.
Stats: 24,1 Points, 11 Rebounds, 3,5 Assists, 1,9 Blocks, 4 Turnover, 49/26/81 Splits
Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards): While Wall had to sit out for a while, Beal kept the wizards running. The Shooting Guard is constantly evolving, but after Wall’s return, its efficiency should also improve again. A word for Wall: If he stays fit from now on, he will also be an all-star, it just wasn’t quite enough so far.
Stats: 23.8 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 3.5 Assists, 1.1 Steals, 45/36/79 Splits
DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors): While Kyle Lowry has taken a step backwards, DeRozan has become more effective and is now the boss of the Raptors. He will never be a good marksman, but that’s something you can slowly accept – DeRozan gets his points from Oldschool. And the Raptors are in very good shape.
Stats: 24 Points, 5,1 Assists, 4,3 Rebounds, 1,2 Steals, 49/28/80 Splits
Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers): Yes, even as a rookie Simmons is allowed to show up here, at least so far. Even without a throw, Simmons is one of the most versatile players in the NBA and his style fits perfectly with the All-Star game. No newbie has been that good from the start for a long time.
Stats: 17.2 Points, 9.1 Rebounds, 7.9 Assists, 2.1 Steals, 3.9 Turnover, 51/0/55 Splits
Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers): In the shadow of LeBron’s brilliance, the Forward also plays a strong season and managed the step to the second option with the Cavs well. His effective field goal percentage of 55.4 percent is by far a career high for him.
Stats: 19,5 Points, 10,2 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 47/40/37 Splits
Kristaps Porzingis (New York Knicks): The knee problems are a bit worrying, but when Porzingis plays he is an absolute power. He can do almost anything offensively, even if he is still allowed to work on the pass game, but he is also more defensive than most of his “unicorn”colleagues. Could lead New York surprisingly back to the playoffs.
Stats: 25.5 Points, 6.6 Rebounds, 2.1 Blocks, 47/40/85 Splits
Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons): Drummond is still keeping his free-throw quota above 60 percent, which is likely to be shocking. In addition, since this season he is a good passport player and plays four times as many assists as in his career so far! Since he also leads the league on the boards and the Pistons play successful basketball, there is no way around him.
Stats: 13.8 Points, 14.8 Rebounds, 3.7 Assists, 1.4 Steals, 1.3 Blocks, 54/0/63 Splits
Al Horford (Boston Celtics): Kyrie may get the headlines, but Horford is equally important for the success of Celtics – perhaps even more so. The Big Man has no weaknesses at all and is not only a strong playmaker but also a legitimate DPOY candidate.
Stats: 14 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1 block, 52/42/76 splits
Page 1: Information about voting and the Eastern Conference
Page 2: The Western Conference