The 2023 NBA All-Star starters were officially announced last January 27, 2023 headlined by LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Visit for more NBA Shorts news and updates here!
The 38 year-old Lakers Forward LeBron James is nearing one Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record, but he already drew Abdul-Jabbar on another history page, in the All-Star record book. For upcoming NBA All star updates and stories here!
LeBron James confirmed his NBA All-Star appearance for the 19th time, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star has tied Kareem for the most selections in the league history. This is also the fifth time that James became team captain after leading the overall vote-getter in the All-Star voting. On the Eastern Conference side, the Greek Freak and NBA Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks stole the top spot in the Eastern division vote-leader from Kevin Durant for his third time.
Below are the official starters of the 72nd NBA All-Star to be held in Salt Lake:
EASTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS | WESTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS |
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Captain) | LeBron James (Captain) |
Kevin Durant | Nikola Jokic |
Jayson Tatum | Zion Williamson |
Donovan Mitchell | Stephen Curry |
| Kyrie Irving | Luka Doncic |
This is the sixth edition of the All Star Game where the NBA has used the captain format for the All-Star Game; James has been a captain every time and swept all the editions, taking 5-0 record into this year. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo clinched his third captaincy, earning it first in 2019 and 2020.
The NBA made an exciting change for the NBA All-Star draft in which captains will pick their rosters on the day of the All-Star game, which was changed prior to the format where James and Antetokounmpo will have the draft ceremony a week or two in advance of the All-Star weekend.
This 19th selection of LeBron James into the All-Star game will possibly become a platform of celebration if he was able to pass the scoring record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which he nearly held for 40 years.
“Calculating out when it might happen, it seems at this point it’s likely to happen before our All-Star break. If it were to happen before our All-Star break, it seems like the All-Star Game this year, which is in Salt Lake City, may be the perfect opportunity to honor him,” said by the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during the NBA Paris Game.
During the televised announcement of the All-Star starters, Mitchell said that he was “definitely blessed and humbled to be a part of this. To be a part of [my] fourth All-Star and now to be a starter, [I] couldn’t be happier.”
There’s a huge controversy in the All-Star starter announcement where Joel Embiid, the current second scoring-leader in the NBA, averaging 33.4 points per game – was not picked after Antetokounmpo, Durant and Tatum were the top three in the voting.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was also snubbed for starter position after leading the Oklahoma City Thunders, enjoying his career best (in all aspects) with 30.8 points and a true-shooting percentage of 62.5. The West also missed out on Domantas Sabonis who currently leading the Sacramento Kings to a third-place in the Western Division standings. The Lithuanian Big man is averaging 18.4 points and 12.4 rebounds (current rebound leader in the NBA) with 7.3 assists which is an all-around performance that truly helped the Kings into a successful season so far.
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