Embiid to start; LeBron, Curry will captain teams

NEW YORK » Team LeBron against Team Stephen is the NBA’s new All-Star matchup. And the online team of fans that pushed votes for the Sixers’ Joel Embiid will be happy with what they see.

The Sixers center will make his first All-Star apperance, one of 10 starters announced Thursday for the game, in which LeBron James and Stephen Curry will go head-to-head as captains who pick teams in a revamped format.

Embiid was third in Eastern Conference frontcourt voting among fans and media and fourth by the players, with the fan vote accounting for 50 percent of the total.

Embiid, who is averaging 23.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in 31 games, is the Sixers’ first All-Star since 2012-13 (Jrue Holiday) and first starter since 2009-10 (

James and Curry received the most votes from fans in their con-

ferences Thursday night and will draft from a pool of the rest of the NBA’s best for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles.

“Captain huh? Really Appreciate all the votes from the fans, media and players!” Curry wrote on Twitter .

James will pick first as the player who received the most fan votes. He will make his 14th All-Star Game start, one behind Kobe Bryant for the most in league history.

“Congrats Captain,” Kevin Love wrote to his Cleveland teammate James on Instagram.

He could start his team with Kevin Durant, who teamed with Curry to beat James and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Or maybe he could go with Kyrie Irving, a former All-Star Game MVP who asked to be traded away from Cleveland last summer and has led Boston to the best record in the East.

Perhaps it will be Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom James came from behind to edge with 2.6 million votes. The Greek Freak had a little more than 2.5 million.

The format was changed from the traditional East vs. West matchup for the first time after lackluster games the last two seasons, when players made little attempt to defend and the West nearly scored 200 points in both of its victories.

Both James and Curry will make their first four picks from the pool of starters, but they don’t have to stick to conference affiliation in choosing their rosters.

The other starter from

the Eastern Conference will be Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan, another firsttimer.

New Orleans has two starters in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Houston guard James Harden, the NBA’s scoring leader, rounds out the starters.

The seven reserves in each conference, voted upon by the head coaches in each conference, will be announced Tuesday, and the rosters selected by James and Curry will be unveiled next Thursday.

The league does not plan to televise the draft.