Text | From one dozen to five
Edit the | Aunt Wang, Xinyu
On January 27, Beijing time, the list of starters for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game was announced, and LeBron James was re-elected as the voting king. Soon, the list of substitutes selected by the coach, the list of participants in individual competitions, and some competition formats that may change will be officially announced one after another.
All-Star Schedule (all in Beijing time)
February 18
8 o'clock All-Star Celebrity Challenge
10 o'clock All-Star Rookie Challenge
February 19
9 o'clock All-Star Individual Challenge (Skill Game, Three-Point Contest, Slam Dunk Contest)
February 20
9 o'clock All-Star Game
Starter lineup
The starting lineup has been announced, and this time the vote is still according to the previous rules, with fans voting 50% and media and players voting 25% each.
The Eastern Conference All-Star starting list is as follows, with the first being the captain:
Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Kyrie Irving (Nets), Kevin Durant (Nets), Jason Tatum (Celtics), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
The Western All-Star roster is as follows:
LeBron James (Lakers), Jokic (Nuggets), Stephen Curry (Warriors), Luka Doncic (Mavericks), Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
This season, although Irving was once suspended for controversy, his performance after his comeback was conscientious, and there were no more controversial remarks and behaviors off the court, his performance won back the support of the media, fans, and peers recognized his strength, Irving finally returned to the All-Star stage, and the Nets became the only team to have two people selected to start.
Mitchell performed well after being sent to the Eastern Conference team Cavaliers, played a career masterpiece, and finally got his wish, becoming an All-Star starter for the first time, but regretted that he was suppressed during his time at the Jazz and never made the starting lineup.
The biggest legacy of Eastern Conference All-Star starters is undoubtedly 76ers center Joel Embiid, who received 153 votes in the player vote, more than Tatum's 139. However, Embiid had fewer fan votes and media votes than Tatum and could only fall into the bench. Although stars such as Jokic and Kuzma have publicly praised Embiid, rules are rules.
The biggest controversy in the Western All-Star starter is Williamson entering the starting lineup, and the ESPN expert group said in a roundtable interview that Markkanen and Sabonis Jr. are worthy of starters. However, Williamson's player voting advantage is clear, and the fan vote is also 4th in the Western Conference frontcourt, and his overall rating is higher than that of Anthony Davis and the less popular Markkanen and Sabonis Jr., and he finally locked in the starter.
In the Western Conference starting backcourt, Curry's selection has also been questioned, after all, he missed some games due to injury. However, his strength is still recognized by players and the media, and the support of fans ranks first in the Western backfield, and his popularity remains high. Morant and Alexander, two new-generation guards, still have a long way to go to replace Curry.
Lineup variables
Almost every year, an All-Star is unavailable due to injury, and this year may be no exception, and injuries can make the final roster a change.
Among the starters, Durant (MCL strain) and Williamson (hamstring strain) are currently recovering from injuries, and it is still unknown whether they can catch up with the All-Star. Mitchell suffered a groin strain, playing just one of his last five games, and admits he is still plagued by the injury. Doncic just suffered a sprained left ankle, but fortunately he has a mild sprain and is currently under daily observation.
If a player is unavailable due to injury, a replacement will be decided by league president Adam Shaw.
When will the replacement list be announced?
The All-Star bench roster will be announced at 8 a.m. on Feb. 3, with coaches of the league's 30 teams voting for 14 players, with two backcourt players, three frontcourt players and two players in any position in each division.
Changes in the draft system
Starting with the 2018 Los Angeles All-Star Game, the league has introduced an all-star draft system, with East and West ticket winners as captains, and selecting the players they want from the all-star player pool. In the 2023 All-Star Game, the draft will be placed for the first time half an hour before the official start of the game (8:30 on February 20), and the two captains will select people live, and the process will be livestreamed.
After the introduction of the draft system, the league initially announced the results of the captaincy selection in advance, but the process and the number of picks each player selected in the first pick would not be revealed. The media and fans who watched the excitement complained that there was no topicality, and later the league was reformed and the draft was broadcast live online. This time, the league put the draft half an hour before the start of the game and it was a live selection, full of suspense and topicality.
According to the rules, James has the first pick, who will he choose? Antetokounmpo was then elected, and so on. The two first have to choose four of the remaining eight players in the starting line-up, and then choose from the bench roster.
James has a lot of experience in terms of selection, and his LeBron team has won five years in a row.
All-Star coaches
In the 2022 All-Star Game, Durant is Heat coach Spoelstra, and LeBron is coached by Suns coach Monty Williams. From the current rankings, the first Celtics coach in the East, Mazura will coach the alphabet team, and the first Nuggets coach Mike Malone in the West will coach LeBron.
Format
In recent years, the league has been reforming the format of various competitions.
Last year's Rookie Challenge, all selected rookies were divided into 4 teams, taking the form of a tournament for the first time. The 4 teams face off in two groups, with the winner advancing to the championship battle. In the first round, the first team to score 50 points entered the championship race. In the final, the first team to score 25 points became the champion.
The jury is still out on what form this year's Rookie Challenge will take, whether it will continue last year's format, return to Team USA to play the World Team, first-year vs. sophomore, or take a new format, NBA officials have not yet announced.
The format of the main event has been confirmed to continue the previous format. Starting with the 2020 All-Star Game, the league has reformed the main tournament format in honor of Kobe Bryant. At the beginning of the second and third quarters, the score will be cleared, which means that the score is 0-0 at the beginning of each of the first three quarters, and each quarter is played for 12 minutes. But in the fourth quarter, the live timer will be turned off, and instead of a timed showdown, a target score will be set to which team will reach the target first and which team will win.
The target score is +24 points (Kobe Bryant jersey number) from the three quarters of the leading team in the first three quarters. For example, if the two teams were 100-95 in the first three quarters, the target score would be 124 points. A team that scored 100 points in the first three quarters would win with 24 points in the fourth quarter, while a team with 95 points in the first three quarters would need 29 points in the fourth quarter to win.
Special Session
James has reached 38,230 points in his regular season career, and he only needs 158 more points to surpass Kareem Abdul Abdul-Jabbar and become the NBA's all-time scoring leader. At James' current pace, he could achieve that milestone before the All-Star break.
League president Adam Shaw has stated that if James can achieve the milestone before the All-Star Game, the league will launch a special session at the 2023 All-Star Game to celebrate James' record-breaking and pay tribute to James.
"Right now, James could break the record before the All-Star Break, and if he can break the record before the All-Star Break, it looks like this year's All-Star Game might be the perfect time for us to pay tribute to James." Xiao Hua previously said.
In addition, as long as James is an All-Star, this will be his 19th All-Star Game, and he will become the first man in history. Although Abdul-Jabbar was also an All-Star 19 times, he played 18 times, and in 1973 Abdul-Jabbar was selected as an All-Star but did not play.
Shirt design
The 2023 All-Star Game jersey has been released, with a gradient color treatment to represent the Utah and local landscapes. The purple and blue colors and designs represent the northern Utah landscape, and the red, orange, and yellow colors and designs represent the southern Utah landscape. The five stars on the shorts are lined up to represent Utah's five national parks, and the vertical stripes on the sides of the jersey represent the famous Bonneville salt flats canal.
This will be the first time since 1993 that the All-Star Game has returned to Salt Lake City, and the three-day basketball extravaganza is sure to be exciting.