LeBron James Picked For 21st All-Star Game

LeBron James is extending his All-Star records. And Giannis Antetokounmpo is the people’s choice, again.

The NBA revealed the starters — some of them, anyway — for the revamped All-Star Game on Thursday night, and there wasn’t much in the way of surprises. James is now officially an All-Star for the 21st year, and Antetokounmpo is now the ninth player to win the fan vote in back-to-back seasons.

The other starters:

— New York’s Jalen Brunson and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell as the Eastern Conference guards.

— Boston’s Jayson Tatum and New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns as the East frontcourt players alongside Antetokounmpo.

— Golden State’s Stephen Curry and NBA leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as Western Conference guards.

— Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Nikola Jokic as the West frontcourt players alongside James.

The starters were picked through a system of weighted balloting: 50% was fan voting, 25% was a media panel and 25% was voting by current players.

There are 14 more All-Stars yet to be announced, and they’ll be chosen in a vote of the league’s head coaches. That list will be revealed on Jan. 30, and the All-Star Game — now games, really — happens in San Francisco on Feb. 16.

Among the candidates for those reserve spots: San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Dallas teammates Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, reigning All-Star Game MVP Damian Lillard of Milwaukee, Miami’s Tyler Herro, Atlanta’s Trae Young and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball — who led East guard fan voting.

James is now in line to become the third player to appear in the All-Star Game after turning 40. The others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did so at 40 and 41, and Dirk Nowitzki, whose All-Star finale came when he was 40.

James — a pick for 21 straight years — now has two more All-Star selections than anyone else in NBA history (Abdul-Jabbar was a 19-time pick) and is three years clear of anyone else for the longest streak of consecutive selections.