2023 NBA All-Star Game Starter Announcement Winners and Losers

The winners and losers of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game starter announcement were originally published on NBC Sports Bayarea

Let the discussion begin.

2023 NBA All-Star Game captains and starters announcedand most of them are well placed.

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will once again be captains and face off as they did in 2019 and 2020. Team his LeBron has his two wins.

News of the starters will follow after that, with reserves set to be announced next Thursday. The first eight players to be selected in the Live All-Star Draft before the game kicks off on Sunday, February 19 are: Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson, Nikola Jokic, Donovan Mitchell and Kylie Jokic. Irving, Jason Tatum and Kevin Durant.

Let’s start with the latter and analyze some winners and losers from the announcement.

A frontcourt debate in the Eastern Conference has left one fanbase hurt. The fanbase is Philadelphia 76ersWith the elite class consisting of Antetokounmpo, Durant, Tatum and Joel Embiid, someone is bound to miss the cut.

Unfortunately, it became Embiid. Embiid is a sensational player and one of the first reserves to be named to the game. But in this sense he falls into this category. The do-it-yourself big man averaged 33.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals in a 53/35/86 shooting split, but the rest of the team couldn’t beat the three stars. bottom.

vote result Released by the NBA, it showed Embiid right behind Tatum, with votes tallied by fans, players and members of the media. The fact that he did not place 1st or 2nd in any of these three hampered his weighted score.

Winner: Zion Williamson

The most controversial player in the Western Conference was Zion Williamson. The New Orleans Pelicans star has missed 29 of his 49 games due to a variety of injuries, but the team hopes to restore his current hamstring situation within the next two weeks. As we evaluate, that number will grow.

story continues

Williamson’s individual stats are impressive: 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 61/37/71 shooting splits. No one argues about his stats that justify a spot on the team, but injuries/missed games and the Pelicans’ ability to win without him make him an impenetrable choice.

If he had played at least 40 games so far and kept up with that number, it wouldn’t have been talked about. But he wasn’t, and he had other, more worthy choices, which put him in the spotlight and lead to the next loser.

Williamson finished third in the Western Conference frontcourt in the combined weighted scores for the three sections of the vote, but someone who probably deserved it fell a few places down: Domantas Sabonis.

of Sacramento Kings The big man was a key member of the renaissance happening in Northern California, as a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 16 years is now the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Sabonis averaged 18.4 points, leading the league with 12.4 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 0.8 steals with 61/37/75 shooting per split.

Sabonis finished sixth among frontcourt options behind Anthony Davis and Lauri Markkanen. Davis has played only 26 games this season, but Markkanen’s Jazz are not as strong and consistent as Sacramento. Sabonis’ downfall was a fan vote, and his ninth spot plummeted.

He should qualify as a reserve, but the Kings’ hot start should have been given more credit.Needless to say, he forgot surgery To a broken thumb to avoid long-term absence.

Winner: Kyrie Irving

Irving had an eventful first few months of the season. brooklyn nets. he had seizure Suspended in media does not deny anti-Semitism, rebelled Former head coach Steve Nash turned down sneaker deal Nike.

He’s since returned, appearing in 36 games, averaging 26.8 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals and a 49/37/90 shooting split, but his early season problems have been masked. It seems that.

boston celtics Winger Jaylen Brown and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Halliburton would have been two solid alternatives to Irving, but finishing first in both the player and fan ranks put them at risk. Duke’s product has been enhanced.

Loser: Rocky Mountains

In addition to the starter and captain, also the game jersey clearlyEven though the game was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, the only thing that inspired the design was Jazz’s bright orange and yellow jersey.

It feels like a missed opportunity not having a design that resembles Utah’s vintage Rocky Mountain purple look. Hopefully, the game itself provides enough quality moments to make you slip your jersey.