The best basketball players in the world will descend upon Salt Lake City for NBA All-Star Weekend, all leading up to the main event: the 2023 All-Star Game.
Fans can be on the lookout for a new format: For the first time ever, team captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will pick their teams directly ahead of the All-Star Game on Sunday. Kevin Durant suggested the format back in 2022.
“It’d be fire if we picked right before the game, though. In the locker room, like ‘let me get him, let me get him,”‘ Durant said on a podcast. “We giving the NBA ideas man, for free on ETCs.”
Stephen Curry was named the 2022 NBA All-Star Game MVP after scoring 50 points with a record 16-three pointers in Team LeBron’s 163-160 win over Team Durant.
Who will win this year? Who will hoist the Kobe Bryant MVP trophy? Here is everything you need to know about the 2023 NBA All-Star Game:
When is the 2023 NBA All-Star Game?
The 72nd NBA All-Star Game will tip off at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. The NBA All-Star Draft will be held directly ahead of the game at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Both will be televised on TNT.
Who are the 2023 NBA All-Star Game team captains?
The player that received the most fan votes in each conference was designated a captain.
James will serve as a team captain for the sixth consecutive year. The 19-time All-Star received 7,418,116 fans votes. The Los Angeles Lakers star has been a captain every year since the format was adopted in the 2018 All-Star Game, and he’s 5-0 as a captain. Will he make it 6-0?
Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will serve as the opposing captain, his third time in the driver’s seat after leading an All-Star team in 2019 and 2020. And he’s looking for his first win as captain — Team Giannis is 0-2 against Team LeBron. The seven-time All-Star received 6,761,032 fan votes.
Who are the 2023 NBA All-Star Game starters?
Fans, players and selected media voted for All-Star starters with the fan vote counting 50% and the players’ and media vote each accounting for 25%.
The West coast starters are James, Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), who is replacing Zion Williamson in the starting lineup, and Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzles), who is replacing Stephen Curry.
The East coast starters are Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), *Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks) and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), who is replacing Durant in the starting lineup.
*Irving was on the Brooklyn Nets at the time he was named a starter. He was traded to the Mavericks in the Western Conference ahead of the trade deadline earlier this month.
How are the 2023 NBA All-Star teams selected? Who are the reserves?
James and Antetokounmpo will draft the rest of their teams playground style directly ahead of the All-Star Game. They will choose from a pool of starters or reserves, no matter the conference.
The captains will take turns choosing players. James will have the first pick as the leading vote-getter. The captains will select from starters first before moving to reserves.
The reserves from the Eastern Conference are Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Julius Randle (New York Knicks) and *Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors).
The Western Conference reserves are Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) *Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) and *De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings).
All-Star reserves are chosen by NBA coaches and injury replacements are selected by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Who are the 2023 NBA All-Star coaches?
The head coach whose team has the best record in each conference was selected as the All-Star coach of their conference.
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone will serve as the coach for Team LeBron, the second time he’s served as an All-Star head coach. He led Team LeBron to a win in 2019.
Boston Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla will lead Team Giannis, becoming the third first-year coach to lead an All-Star Game in the last 24 seasons.
How does the 2023 NBA All-Star scoring work? Who wins?
The winner will be determined by a “target score.”
The teams will compete in a mini-game in each of the first three quarters, the scores starting at 0-0 in each of those 12-minute periods with the winning team earning $100,000 for a Utah-based charity. (Team LeBron will play for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and Team Giannis will play for Raise the Future.)
In the fourth quarter a “target score” is set — The total score of the leading team + 24 points. For example, if Team LeBron leads Team Giannis 100-95 after three quarters, then the “target score” will be 124. The fourth quarter is untimed and will go on until the final score is reached.
Who is performing at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game?
Utah native and Grammy nominee Jewel, along with Post Malone and actors Vin Diesel and Ben Affleck, will be among the performers at this weekend’s NBA All-Star events in Salt Lake City.
Jewel will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the All-Star Game on Sunday and Jully Black will sing the Canadian national anthem. Diesel will introduce the players and Post Malone will perform a medley after James and Antetokounmpo draft their teams for the game.
The halftime show will feature three Nigerian artists — Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Burna Boy, Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated singer Tems and rapper Rema — doing an Afrobeats-themed performance.
Source: USA Today
