Doncic Leads All-Star Starters: LeBron Snubbed After 21 Years

The new batch of starters for the NBA All Star includes four debuts and one notable absence. For the first time since 2005, LeBron James is left out of the exclusive group of ten players selected for the great festive event of American basketball, and it remains to be seen if the league’s coaches, in charge of choosing substitutes, will include him in the final list. His teammate and heir to his star in the Los Angeles Lakers, the Slovenian Luka Doncic, has led this year the popular votes for the event held in LA with nearly three and a half million votes.

The Western Conference starters, chosen for the first time without taking into account their position on the court, were the following: Nikola Jokić (Nuggets), Luka Dončić (Lakers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Steph Curry (Warriors) and Victor Wembanyama (Spurs), who debuts in the quintet of the best after voting that also includes the evaluation of his co-workers and the media. In the Eastern Conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Cade Cunningham (Pistons), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers) and Jaylen Brown (Celtics) were chosen, the last three also distinguished as starters for the first time.

LeBron, who had 21 selections as a starter in the NBA All-Star Game, began the year missing 14 games due to sciatica, and then it took him several games to find his rhythm, unprecedented in any case for a 41-year-old player who has accumulated a record of 23 seasons in the league. James is averaging 22.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 33 minutes of play this season, shooting 50.9% from the field in 24 games played. The forward was the eighth most voted by the rest of the players in the league and the fans, the ninth by the press, and will now depend on the seven positions that the competition coaches will decide this Sunday.

The King He played his first All Star in 2005, already as a starter, after dazzling in his debut campaign (2003-04) as number one in the Draft. Since then, he was always present among the 10 starters for the appointment in the votes commanded by the fans. In the 75th edition of the all-star game, which will be played on February 15 at the Inuit Dome, the Clippers’ brand new arena, James could still serve as a starter if he is finally chosen by the coaches.

The NBA will debut a new format at the event, with three teams made up of eight players and a new leitmotif which is still curious as international relations are today: “United States against the World.” A team with the best foreign players in the league will face two squads made up of American talent. There will, therefore, be 15 starters in the all-star games, even though only 10 will receive the official distinction in the offices. In the culminating event of the weekend in Los Angeles, four 12-minute matches will be played: after the three teams meet, the two with the best balance will face off for the title.

This is the NBA’s latest bid to renew media interest in a match that has lost competitive tension in recent years, a situation that has harmed the audiences of one of the key economic events for the American league.