James, Curry names All-Star captains

Published 11:56 pm Thursday, January 18, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) — Team LeBron against Team Stephen is the NBA’s new All-Star matchup.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry will go head-to-head again, this time as captains who pick teams for the revamped NBA All-Star Game.
James and Curry received the most votes from fans in their conferences Thursday night and will draft from a pool of the rest of the NBA’s best for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles.
“Captain huh? Really Appreciate all the votes from the fans, media and players!” Curry wrote on Twitter .
James will pick first as the player who received the most fan votes. He will make his 14th All-Star Game start, one behind Kobe Bryant for the most in league history.
He could start his team with Kevin Durant, who teamed with Curry to beat James and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Or maybe he could go with Kyrie Irving, a former All-Star Game MVP who asked to be traded away from Cleveland last summer and has led Boston to the best record in the East.
Perhaps it will be Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom James came from behind to edge with 2.6 million votes. The Greek Freak had a little more than 2.5 million.
For now, James is keeping his choice a secret.
“I’m not telling you,” he said after the Cavs squeaked out a 104-103 win over Orlando.
James also had a quick response when asked if Curry being the opposing captain added a layer to his rivalry with the point guard.
“No,” he said.
The format was changed from the traditional East vs. West matchup for the first time after lackluster games the last two seasons, when players made little attempt to defend and the West nearly scored 200 points in both of its victories.
Both James and Curry will make their first four picks from the pool of starters, but they don’t have to stick to conference affiliation in choosing their rosters.
“I’m going to try to build the best team I can,” James said. “I don’t play fantasy anything. And I don’t trade guys onto teams when I play 2K or play the video games, so this is different for me. But I know watching guys and loving their game and all that, if you had an opportunity to play with that guy, how special that would be.”
The other starters from the Eastern Conference will be Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, the only first-time All-Star among the starters.
New Orleans also has two starters in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Houston guard James Harden, the NBA’s scoring leader, rounds out the starters, who were selected by a combination of fan, media and player voting. Fan balloting accounted for 50 percent of the formula, with the media panel and player vote each making up 25 percent.
The seven reserves in each conference, voted upon by the head coaches in each conference, will be announced Tuesday, and the rosters selected by James and Curry will be unveiled next Thursday.
The league does not plan to televise the draft.

All-Star voting
NBA All-Star Voting
Game: Feb. 18
at Staples Center, Los Angeles
(Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the starters, current players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each)
(s-starter; c-captain)
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1, sc-LeBron James, Cleveland, 2,638,294; 2, s-Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee, 2,530,211; 3, s-Joel Embiid, Philadelphia, 1,285,587; 4, Kristaps Porzingis, New York, 1,116,769; 5, Kevin Love, Cleveland, 771,929; 6, Jayson Tatum, Boston, 422,620; 7, Al Horford, Boston, 384,936; 8, Enes Kanter, New York, 294,926; 9, Andre Drummond, Detroit, 220,736; 10, Dwight Howard, Charlotte, 186,844.
Guards
1, s-Kyrie Irving, Boston, 2,170,833; 2, s-DeMar DeRozan, Toronto, 998,999; 3, Ben Simmons, Philadelphia, 669,397; 4, Victor Oladipo, Indiana, 634,495; 5, Dwyane Wade, Cleveland, 617,271; 6, John Wall, Washington, 542,836; 7, Isaiah Thomas, Cleveland, 449,091; 8, Kyle Lowry, Toronto, 322,036; 9, Bradley Beal, Washington, 269,238; 10, Jaylen Brown, Boston, 205,104.
Western Conference
Frontcourt
1, s-Kevin Durant, Golden State, 2,238,406; 2, Draymond Green, Golden State, 1,088,230; 3, s-Anthony Davis, New Orleans, 1,088,230; 4, s-DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans, 992,269; 5, Paul George, Oklahoma City, 881,287; 6, Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio, 741,838; 7, Carmelo Anthony, Oklahoma City, 612,021; 8, LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio, 578,853. 9, Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota, 552,376; 10, Kyle Kuzma, L.A. Lakers, 524,927.
Guards
1, sc-Stephen Curry, Golden State, 2,379,494; 2, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 1,808,860; 3, s-James Harden, Houston, 1,486,830; 4, Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 1,241,129; 5, Klay Thompson, Golden State, 1,239,768; 6, Lonzo Ball, L.A. Lakers, 607,961; 7, Chris Paul, Houston, 562,428; 8, Damian Lillard, Portland, 439,462; 9, Jimmy Butler, Minnesota, 329,435; 10, Devin Booker, Phoenix, 268,041.

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