Los Angeles (USA), Feb 16 (EFE).- With LeBron James already the top scorer in history, the NBA lands this weekend in Salt Lake City (USA) for an edition of the All- Star marked by the absence of injured figures such as Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry.
From February 17 to 19, the home of the Utah Jazz will host this All-Star whose main course will come on Sunday with the game between the teams led by LeBron (Los Angeles Lakers) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks).
One of the novelties of this All-Star is that the captains will choose their teams in turns just before the game starts, as if it were a ‘party’ at school and each of them would choose among their friends to form their respective sets.
In addition to LeBron, Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans) were chosen as starters in the West.
Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets, now at Phoenix Suns), Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets, now at Dallas Mavericks) and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) were selected in the East along with Antetokounmpo for the starting five.
That does not mean that they are going to group into blocks of the East against the West since in 2018 the NBA changed the format and each captain can choose the players he prefers regardless of the conference.
In terms of reserves, the West features Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies), Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), and Jaren Jackson Jr. (Oklahoma City Thunder). (Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz) and Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings).
And in the East, the bench was formed by Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks ) and Julius Randle (New York Knicks).
However, Durant, Curry and Williamson will be out due to injury, so the NBA selected Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings) and Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors) as substitutes.
These three players will be reserves so the three injured All-Star starters will go to Embiid, Markkanen and Morant.
It is possible that there will be more last-minute casualties because Embiid assured this Wednesday that he still does not know if he will be in Salt Lake City due to his foot discomfort.
In addition to beating him for all-time leading scorer, LeBron tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar this year as the player with the most All-Star selections (19).
LeBron has been chosen six consecutive times as captain since the NBA changed the All-Star format and his team has won every game so far.
Mike Malone (Denver Nuggets) will coach Team LeBron while Joe Mazzulla (Boston Celtics) will coach Team Antetokounmpo.
LUXURY IN EL TRIPLE, INCOGNITA IN LOS MATES
In the golden age of the outside shot in the NBA, the All-Star 3-point contest will present a splendid list with many names in capital letters.
Thus, Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Tyler Herro (Miami Heat), Buddy Hield (Indiana Pacers), Kevin Huerter (Sacramento Kings), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), Anfernee Simons (Portland Trail Blazers) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics) will compete to see who is the successor to Latino Karl Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves), who won last year.
More doubts are raised by the dunk contest, in decline in recent years and with many voices in the NBA asking for changes.
Kenyon Martin Jr. (Houston Rockets), Mac McClung (Philadelphia 76ers), Trey Murphy III (New Orleans Pelicans) and Jericho Sims (New York Knicks) will face off to take the baton from the winner in 2022, Obi Toppin (New York Knicks).
With plenty of events throughout the weekend, Spanish fans will have a point of interest on Friday in the tournament between rookies and sophomores as Pau Gasol will be one of the coaches in that competition.
