2018 NBA All-Star Starting Lineups Announced!
The NBA announced last off-season that the All-Star game would be getting a revamp for 2018. The changes included scrapping the East vs. West format and moving a draft in which the top vote receiver in each conference would earn the right to draft his squad. Unfortunately for fans, the draft will not be televised and the order in which the players are taken will also not be revealed. The captains will draft first a set of four starters (plus themselves to fill out the starting lineup), but can choose players from either conference. The pool of reserves will then be drafted following the starters draft concluding. I'm personally excited for the intrigue that this will cause and the endless debate of who was picked at what point in the draft.
With that being said, let's take a look at the Eastern Conference Starters pool:
East Captain: LeBron James
Honestly no real surprise here. James is having one of his greatest seasons statistically and carried the Cavs to the three-seed in the East. The fact that he won the fan vote by just over 100,000 votes compared to Giannis Antetokounmpo shows that there may be a changing of the guard in the near future.
East Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid
Not a huge surprise with these two picks either. Giannis was the lead vote getter after the first round of fan voting and as I mentioned before was a mere 100,000 votes away from being named captain of the Eastern squad. The bigger surprise comes from Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. While Embiid received more fan votes and votes from media members, Embiid was actually behind Kristaps Porzingis in the player voting. The two are very close and I don't have a problem with Embiid over Porzingis personally.
East Backcourt: Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan
Both players are highly deserving of the starting nod. Irving has led Boston to the best record in the Eastern Conference and has had an extremely efficient first year as a Celtic. DeRozan on the other hand has been a scoring phenom for the Tornonto Raptors and has them sitting one spot behind the Celtics in the East. DeRozan was someone I wasn't sure was going to make the starting lineup simply because he plays in Toronto, but I'm glad he did because he is well deserving of the spot.
Now, let's take a look at the Western Conference Starters pool:
West Captain: Stephen Curry
Once James Harden went down with his ankle injury a few weeks ago, Curry had the Western captain spot locked up. Personally, I think teammate Kevin Durant is more deserving of the spot as he has had a better all-around season than Curry, but with the fan vote being the deciding factor in who received the captain spot, it was no surprise that Curry got the nod.
West Frontcourt: Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins
There's no surprise that Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis were starters. Both have had tremendous first halves to the season and both are dominating the game on both ends of the floor. The big surprise here is DeMarcus Cousins. While he has extremely solid numbers, his lack of defensive effort has been shown time and time again. I also don't like the fact that two players from a team that is barely over .500 was able to land two players in the starting lineup. I personally would have given LaMarcus Aldridge or Karl-Anthony Towns the nod over Cousins simply due to the fact that they have helped their teams to much stronger records.
West Backcourt: James Harden
The frontrunner for MVP prior to his ankle injury was a virtual lock for the starting lineup in this year's All-Star game. There's not much more to say here as Harden is having arguably a better statistical season that he had a year ago and was robbed of the MVP award. We haven't seen much of Harden recently due to that ankle injury that has sidelined him for two weeks, but hopefully he is good to go by the All-Star game as he is a huge asset to whichever team drafts him.
Well there you have it folks. Those are the two starting pools for the 2018 All-Star game in Los Angeles on February 18th. I'm excited to see how the draft shakes out and while we may not get our eyes on the draft order, I have a feeling we will be able to see a pretty clear order once the teams are announced. Look out for a post from me soon about how I would draft if I were LeBron James or Steph Curry.
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Westbrook got robbed again of an all star starting spot.
To become an allstar in the West as a guard is probably the toughest spot. I hope my guy Damian Lillard gets the credit he deserves, he’s been getting overlooked year after year
You are saying Westbrook has been better than Harden or Curry?
Harden is having an MVP caliber year again so there’s no doubt he should start (and he deserves too)
Steph is my issue. I get it. He’s fun to watch, entertaining, and has a massive fan base. However, he did miss over 3 weeks of playing time. Westbrook is coming off an MVP season and is still putting up monster numbers. The warriors record with out Steph is 10-3. Would thunder go 10-3 without Russ? LOL I doubt that, he’s clearly the more valuable player.
Curry did miss a good amount of time. But westbrook has more help this year. Hence less credit for his success. Plus Westbrook is notorious for padding his rebound stats. Steven Adams should average at least 2 - 3 more but gives them to Westbrook
20% of the season is a pretty big amount. It just doesn’t seem like a lot because the warriors don’t need him to play every night and can beat 27 other teams without him.
More help? Lol. Steve Kerr said this is the deepest Warriors team he’s coached so clearly GSW has significantly better pieces. Steph isn’t even the best player on his own damn team....
I disagree, I think Curry has been better than Westbrook. WB has been better Defensively (imo) but the difference lies in efficiency. Curry is nearly shooting 50-40-90 while averaging 5.2 rpg and 6.5 APG. We all know WB's rebounding is padded (and assists could be debatable). Curry's impact is portable and could transfer to nearly any team. If WB went to another team that team wouldn't benefit as much as a Curry. Just my thoughts. (This was directed at one of the above comments).
This is my prediction of the allstar game starters :
Team Lebron: Lebron, Kyrie, Harden , Cousins, Embiid
Team Curry: Curry, Durant, Davis, Giannis, Derozan
Check out my blog for an article on my thought process. Lillard was robbed of allstar selections this year as well , OUTVOTED BY LONZO :(
Wow all star game...pretty awesome
Hello...i'm a newbie here...
Wrote an article prediction my NBA starters. Check out my article!
https://steemit.com/nba/@nba-ryder/the-nba-holes-column-2018-west-all-star-starters-1516058715-103981
https://steemit.com/nba/@nba-ryder/the-nba-holes-column-2018-east-all-star-starters-1515996297-3126788
Greetings @brandonp ..... Thanks for sharing this useful post ...i so much appreciate that
Cant wait to see the two starting pools for the 2018 All-Star game in Los Angeles on February 18th play
Once again thanks
It's great to see guys like DeRozan and Davis.
One of my favourite players, and they've both been balling great this year.
I'm just sad for Kawhi and his injury.
Great, humble player without any flaws in his game.
Also, I would like to see Jimmy Butler.
It seems to me from watching few of their games, that him and KAT are carrying Minnesota.
Wiggins is so inconsisten.
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Good article. I think Wall and Westbrook should be starters, but I think everything else is right.
Lots of other great players who hopefully will make the team as backups - Butler, Towns, Aldridge, Lilliard, Lou Williams and Tyreke Evans come to mind in the West. Simmons and Porzingas in the East.
These days being a super star in the NBA is not easy. Fans of this sport are eclipsing players with great skills.
To follow these great stars as they are: LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers and Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and his Golden State Warriors. We blame these teams until I follow them.
Those of us who like this sport and this league touches us is waiting for the development of the emerging players as they are: Giannis Antetokounmpo for me the successor of the throne, Anthony Davis, the expectations about Lonzo Ball. And in the meantime enjoy this game of the 2018. stars and the expectation of whether we will see the final expected again Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers.
If the voting was like how it used to be, Manu would be starting this year. This could be his last year sadly.
As a Spurs fan, I was hoping Manu would get a nod, but it's still possible that he gets the nod from coaches as a "body of work" award.
I'm going with Team Lebron, this year will be very interesting with this new format, it would be nice if next season if this change results in televising the selection player by player, strange that they have not done, many fans would put their eyes on this choice, very good that the NBA continues to innovate.