‘Never take it for granted’
James is looking to go 6-0 as a captain in his 19th appearance
SALT LAKE CITY — The fans in Salt Lake City used to serenade Donovan Mitchell with “MVP” chants when he played for the Utah Jazz, a sign of their appreciation and respect.
He plays for the Cavs now. But he wouldn’t mind hearing those cries again Sunday.
The 72nd NBA All-Star Game is Sunday night with almost all of the league’s biggest names set to take part in Utah.
Captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will pick their teams before the game, leaving Team LeBron and Nuggets coach Michael Malone and Team Giannis and Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla Celtics about five minutes to come up with a game plan.
“It never gets old,” Antetokounmpo said Saturday. “Every day, every time I step to my locker and I see my jersey with my name and I’m around all these great players, which are the best players in the world, it’s always a great feeling. I never take it for granted. God has blessed me enough to be seven times an All-Star so far, and this might be my last one, so I try to enjoy to the fullest and appreciate every moment with the best players in the world.”
And most of the best are indeed in Salt Lake City.
There’s James, who just passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s leading scorer. There’s the Mavs’ Luka Doncic and 76ers’ Joel Embiid, currently No. 1 and No. 2 in the NBA scoring race, both of them just over 33 points per game. Antetokounmpo and James also are averaging at least 30 points, as are Blazers’ Damian Lillard, Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.
“It’s always great just being out here with these guys, honestly,” Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan said. “I look forward to just being able to compete.
“You know, we go against all these guys all season, so just to kind of detach and play with these guys is definitely an honor.”
There’s never any real defense in these games until the fourth quarter, when players get serious, and there inevitably will be a bunch of them scoring a bunch of points. After all, that’s been a trend this season: 20 times a player has scored 50 points in a game, a list topped by Mitchell scoring 71 for the Cavaliers against the Bulls on Jan. 2.
He isn’t flat-out going for the MVP, but acknowledged that he’s thought about it.
“That would be nice,” Mitchell said. “I’m not going to try and shoot every shot, but close to every shot.
“Just have fun. That’s the biggest thing is kind of going into these spaces and really appreciating the moment.”
The format
The first three quarters can be considered mini-games, with the score starting at zero — but with the total score is still tracked because it comes into play later. The winning team in each quarter gets $100,000 for their charity; if the quarter is a tie, that money gets split.
In the fourth quarter, the total score from the first three quarters becomes the score again.
The final target score will be the leading team’s score to that point plus 24 points. There’s no game clock, but there is a shot clock.
The winning team reaches the target score first. If the score is Team LeBron 100, Team Giannis 99 entering the fourth, the winning score would be 124.
The winning team also picks up another $150,000 for its charity.
The MVP award is named for Kobe Bryant, and there will be a new winner this year. Last year’s MVP, Warriors guard Stephen Curry, was voted into the game as a starter but is out with an injury. Antetokounmpo was MVP in 2021 and James has been All-Star MVP three times, most recently in 2018. The only other past MVP in this year’s game is Kyrie Irving, the 2014 winner.
Welcome to the show
There are six players in the All-Star Game who’ll be making their debut: Timerwolves’ Anthony Edwards, Kings’ De’Aaron Fox, Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr., and — last but certainly not least to Jazz fans — Lauri Markkanen.
With those six names, there are now been 450 All-Stars in NBA history.
Moving up
If Antetokounmpo scores 26, that would put him at 200 for his career in All-Star Games. Only 10 other players have scored that many in their appearances: James, Bryant, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Durant, Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Julius Erving, Elgin Baylor and Shaquille O’Neal. Antetokounmpo has averaged 29 points in his six previous All-Star Games — the most in NBA history for those who have appeared in at least three games.
Back in Utah
Salt Lake City becomes the 19th city to host multiple All-Star Games. The Jazz also had the showcase in 1993. Indianapolis joins that list next year when it plays host to the weekend’s events. It’ll be the first time that the Pacers’ home city hosts since 1985.