READY TO SHINE
Curry, Davis lead All-Star reserves
All-Star starters, selected by a combination of fan voting and voting by a media panel and by players, were named last month.
LOS
ANGELES
(AFP) — Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry gained a 10th National Basketball Association All-Star nod and Lakers star Anthony Davis a ninth as reserves for the mid-season showcase were announced on Thursday.
Coaches chose the seven reserves from each conference, with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns both selected in the West.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns were also named to the West squad which will be captained by 20-time All-Star LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers. The East reserves include three first-timers in Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson.
The Knicks’ Julius Randle was also named a reserve along with Boston star Jaylen Brown, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and Miami’s Bam Adebayo.
All-Star starters, selected by a combination of fan voting and voting by a media panel and by players, were named last month.
Four-time NBA champion James broke the record he had shared with another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with his 20th selection.
James will captain and join a starting lineup that also includes Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Serbian center Nikola Jokic, a two-time Most Valuable Player from the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
West starting guards included Luka Doncic of Dallas and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada.
Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was named captain for the East, whose frontcourt starters also include Cameroon’s reigning NBA MVP and this season’s top scorer Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.
East guards included Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, the NBA assists leader, and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver will select the replacement for any player unable to play in the All-Star Game, selecting a substitute from the same conference.
It looks as if Silver will have multiple replacements to name. The Knicks said that Randle will miss two to three weeks with a dislocated shoulder while the 76ers revealed Embiid has a meniscus injury in his left knee with no timetable yet for his return.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers were fined $75,000 by the NBA for violating injury reporting rules but were found not to have violated Player Participation Policy rules for benching Joel Embiid.
The NBA also issued a $25,000 fine to the New Orleans Pelicans for an inaccurate injury report.
The league punished the Sixers for failing to include Embiid on the team’s injury report in an accurate and timely manner for Saturday’s 111-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Embiid missed the nationally televised showdown between top clubs from each conference but the NBA said a league review concluded there was no violation of new rules fighting stars missing major games because Embiid’s absence was due to a confirmed injury.