Detailed explanation of the all-star highlights: James set a new record, Curry was not selected as a starter & the rising stars relayed
原文编译自：The Athletic
作者：Joe Vardon and James Boyd
原标题：NBA All-Star starters announced: LeBron James, Tyrese Haliburton highlight lineups
LeBron James was named to the NBA All-Star for a record 20th consecutive time, while hometown hero Tyrese Haliburton was named to the All-Star starting lineup for the first time.
Haliburton will represent the Pacers as the starting point guard in the East on their home court, according to TNT's Feb. 18 voting results for the NBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, released Thursday night. He will play alongside Milwaukee guard Damian Lillard, Philadelphia center, MVP Joel Embiid, Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo – the current vote winner – and Boston forward Jayson Tatum.
James will represent the West alongside Dallas guard Luka Doncic, Oklahoma City guard Shay Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver center, F MVP Nikola Jokic and Phoenix forward Kevin Durant – the 13-time All-Star who hasn't really played in a healthy game since February 2019.
James, 39, is the Lakers' star forward, NBA's all-time leading scorer and Western Conference ticket leader, having started every All-Star Game since 2005 and breaking the all-Star inclusion record tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Like Haliburton, this will be Shay Gilgeous-Alexander's first All-Star start and his second All-Star Game. Haliburton and James have both missed their respective teams recently with leg injuries, but hopefully they will be fit for the All-Star break.
When it comes to choosing the starting players, 50% of the fan vote, 25% of the player vote and 25% of the media vote. The roster of seven bench players from each of the East and West will be announced on Feb. 1 and will be selected by NBA head coaches.
There are actually only two positions that are very competitive, the two back positions in the east and west.
In the East, the Hawks' Trae Young led all other point guards in a fan vote, with the Knicks' Jalen Brunson selected by the media as the starter and the 76ers' Tyrese Maxey as the player's starter. Lillard's highest ranking in all votes was third (fans) and tied for first place in points overall with Brunson — his eighth All-Star selection came in a tiebreaker (more fans voted for Brunson).
In the West, fans chose the greatest player in Warriors history, Stephen Curry, over Shay Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Canadians had the highest vote share among the media and players.
Curry has been named an All-Star nine times so far, starting all of the eight All-Star games he has played in (missing last year due to injury). As of Thursday, he's averaging 26.7 points per game and shooting 40.1 percent from three-point range (in addition, he leads the league with 172 three-pointers), but the Warriors are now in trouble, with Shay Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic having stats and wins that make Curry look overwhelmed.
In addition, the game will be divided into four quarters of 12 minutes each, as in regular games, instead of the "Elam" scoring model, where each team decides the winner by a target score in an untimed fourth quarter, which has been in use since Chicago in 2020.
The captaincy is still retained, and they are still based on the total number of votes in each division, so James will be captain for the seventh time in his career, his seventh consecutive year as captain, and his sixth consecutive year as captain in the West. Antetokounmpo will be captain for the third time.
In addition, according to recent traditions, the team with the most points in each quarter will win a prize for the charity chosen by their captain.
Over the years, the All-Star Game has changed its format to increase confrontation and entertainment, as the league (and fans and media) believe it has lost its confrontation and entertainment earlier. After some initial success – the 2020 and 2022 All-Star Races had better results in the "Elam" scoring mode – last year's game in Salt Lake City was so bad that the league decided to revert to the old model. But there is one caveat.
Players just have to play harder.
NBA Vice President Joe Dumas said in October, "All-Star Weekend has turned into an incredible weekend, and it is, but at the end of All-Star Weekend, games can't be something that people aren't seriously involved in." We talked to the players about putting on a great show on the last day, which was Sunday night, to really come on the pitch and compete. ”
Haliburton, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, is averaging 23.6 points and a league-high 12.6 assists in 34 games this season. Last month, Haliburton became the third player in NBA history to score 20 points and have 20 assists in two consecutive games, joining Hall of Famers "Magic" Johnson and John Stockton.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton: "When you're 23, 24, you want to keep improving and keep improving your performance on the court, Haliburton is 23 years old and played for the U.S. men's basketball team last summer. These things lead to higher awards and status, but it never stops. You can never breathe a sigh of relief in the face of something like this. ...... You can't see it that way, and I don't think Tyrese does. I think he has more important things to do, and that is his commitment to the collective, the city, and the fact that he wants to be a part of the success of this team."
James, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, is constantly breaking the record for "oldest player in history". Currently, he's averaging 24.8 points per game, which would be his lowest point average since his rookie season if that statistic remains constant. However, James, who turned 39 in December, still averaged 7.4 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. He ranked second in scoring among the Lakers, behind only Anthony Davis, who had a strong individual performance (25.1 points and 12.2 rebounds per game) and nearly secured a selection to the All-Star bench.
Embiid leads the NBA scoring charts with a staggering 36.1 points per game, followed by Doncic (33.6), Antetokounmpo (31.3) and Gilgeous-Alexander (31.1). Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 30 or more points in 32 games, which is the league's leading statistic.
Embiid has been selected as an All-Star seven times. Jokic has been selected as an All-Star six times, and Doncic and Tatum have also been selected as All-Stars five times.