The NBA is considering making another change to the All-Star Game format. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Friday that the league might scrap the current draft format and go back to Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference matchup once again.

Charania reports that the format change, among other concepts, was a point of discussion during the league’s recent Board of Governor and general manager meetings.

The league and NBA Players’ Association agreed to make changes to the All-Star Game in their most recent collective bargaining agreement. Reportedly, the changes might be implemented as soon as the 2023-24 season. The 2024 NBA All-Star weekend is set to take place in Indianapolis.

The NBA has been looking for ways to make the All-Star game more competitive in recent seasons. It made several changes in recent editions, including organizing a draft in which a player with All-Star fan votes from each conference would serve as a captain and draft a team from a pool of starters and reserves.

The draft concept was used in the last five editions of the All-Star game, seeing Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James serving as a captain in all of them. Prior to that, the league had used the West vs. East format since the inception of the All-Star game in 1951.

The post NBA Considering Changes to All-Star Game Format appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA has completed the roster for the 2023 All-Star Game. One week after announcing starters, the league now also shared the players who will take part in All-Star festivities as reserves.

The All-Star reserves were selected based on the votes from coaches around the league and consisted of seven players for each conference.

The Eastern Conference All-Star reserves are Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), and Julius Randle (New York Knicks). Haliburton will be playing his first All-Star game, while six players from the list have at least one previous All-Star selection.

The Western Conference All-Star reserves are Paul George (LA Clippers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies), Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings). There are three debutants in the West, with Gilgeous-Alexander, Jackson Jr., and Markkanen earning their first nods.

The Los Angeles’ LeBron James and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo were previously announced as captains of their respective teams. As in previous years, the captains will take part in the All-Star draft, first selecting four players from the starters’ pool and then seven players from the reserves’ pool. However, there will be one massive change this year, with the draft taking place right before the game.

The 2023 All-Star game will take place on February 19th at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The post NBA Announces 2023 All-Star Game Reserves appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While the 2022 NBA All-Star Game offered more excitement compared to some previous editions, the outcome was the same. Team LeBron once again emerged victorious, beating Team Durant 163-160 in a thrilling fashion on Sunday night in Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse arena.

The game remained competitive until the very end before LeBron James secured a win for his team with a fadeaway over Zach LaVine.

James, who finished the game with 24 points, said after the game that this was a special moment for him, considering he grew up just in Akron, Ohio, which is just half an hour’s drive from the arena.

“I couldn’t have dreamt it,” James told the reporters. “I could not have dreamed of that moment any better than the actuality that just happened.”

LeBron James was named the All-Star captain every year since NBA changed the All-Star Game format in 2018. The teams he picked are now 5-0 in these games.

While James hit the game-winner, Stephen Curry took the spotlight as the star of the night. Curry scored 50 points while making an unbelievable 16 three-pointers. This easily topped the previous All-Star record of nine three-pointers by a single player and stands as the most-scored ever in an NBA game.

Curry, who was born in Akron as well, took home the Most Valuable Player honors. This was his first career NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy.

“It was kind of a perfect ending. Obviously, I got the MVP; I played well the whole night. He [James] hit the game-winner,” said Curry. “All the history of our series and the Akron ties, and all that kind of going into how the night went, so it was pretty—can’t really draw it up any other way.”

Team Durant, who played without their captain Kevin Durant, was led by Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who had 36 points and 10 rebounds. Devin Booker had 20 points, while LaMelo Ball and Dejounte Murray added 18 points and 17 points, respectively.

The post Team LeBron Tops Team Durant in the 2022 All-Star Game, Stephen Curry Named MVP appeared first on SportzBonanza.

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have gone against each other at the All-Star games in the past two years, but this time around, they will be teammates.

James had the first pick in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game draft on Thursday night and didn’t hesitate to use it on Antetokounmpo. The Lakers superstar then added an intimidating backcourt in Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) with his next two picks before finishing off his starting lineup with Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets).

Kevin Durant, who captains the East team but won’t play because of hamstring issues, went with his teammate Kyrie Irving as the first pick. He then paired Irving with NBA leading scorer Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), at the guard position, and also got the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.

From the reserves pool, KD unsurprisingly went with his second Nets teammate James Harden and continued to focus on scorers by selecting Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Zion Williamson (NO Pelicans), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Julius Randle (NY Knicks), Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic) and Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz).

James, on the other hand, went with a more balanced approach. He selected the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the 76ers’ Ben Simmons, the Suns’ Chris Paul, the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, the Clippers’ Paul George, the Indiana Pacers’ Sabonis, and the Jazz’s Rudy Gobert.

The 2021 NBA All-Star game will take place in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Besides the bragging rights, the winning team will secure a contribution to a charity of their choice. James selected Thurgood Marshall College Fund in case his team wins while Durant’s team is playing to help the Negro College Fund.

You can check out the entire video of the draft below.

The post LeBron James Takes Giannis, KD Selects Kyrie Irving in 2021 NBA All-Star Game Draft appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant won’t be able to participate in this year’s All-Star Game. Durant, who was set to captain the East team, is dealing with a strained hamstring, according to the official announcement, and is set to be out around two weeks.

Durant will be replaced on the Eastern Conference pool of All-Stars by Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis.

The All-Star invite for Sabonis, which is his second in a row, isn’t a surprise considering he has been averaging a career-high 21.4 points and 5.9 assists to go with 11.4 rebounds so far this season.

The NBA also announced that the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum was named a starter in this year’s All-Star game. Tatum was initially supposed to be a reserve, but will now take Durant’s place in the starting five.

Despite his absence off the court, Kevin Durant will keep his captain duties. He will get to draft his team that will be facing off against LeBron James from the All-Star pool, although it remains to be seen whether the 32-year-old star will actually make the trip to Atlanta and be present at State Farm Arena.

Durant strained his hamstring in early February and has since missed nine games. He is currently averaging 29 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game for the No. 2-seeded Brooklyn Nets.

The post Kevin Durant Won’t Play in All-Star Game, Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis to Replace Him appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA revealed the reserves for this year’s All-Star Game in Atlanta on Tuesday with the Brooklyn Nets’ James Harden, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons, and the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell headlining the list.

The All-Star reserves were selected by the head coaches of the NBA teams. Each coach picked seven All-Stars from the East and seven All-Stars from the West, with the top vote-getters making the cut.

Besides Harden and Simmons, the pool of All-Star reserves from the Eastern Conference also has the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine, the New York Knicks’ Julius Randle, and the Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic.

The Nets’ Kevin Durant was previously selected as the captain of the East, with the Nets’ Kyrie Irving, the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the 76ers’ Joel Embiid taking the starters spots.

In the West, Mitchell will be joined by his Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, the LA Clippers’ Paul George, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson.

The Lakers’ LeBron James will captain the West, with Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Kawhi Leonard (Clippers), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), and Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors) being in the starters pool as well.

James’ team will be coached by Quin Snyder, whose Utah Jazz is currently first in the Western Conference with a 25-6 record. The Philadelphia 76ers’ Doc Rivers will be the head coach of Durant’s team.

The 2021 All-Star game will take place on March 7th in the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena.

The post James Harden, Ben Simmons, and Donovan Mitchell Among All-Star Reserves appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The voting for this year’s NBA All-Star game wrapped up this week, and the league officially named starters for each conference on Thursday.

On the Western Conference end, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James received the most votes and was named the captain. The starters also will include the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, and the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry.

The captain from the Eastern Conference will be the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant. He will be joined by his Nets’ teammate Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) in the East’s pool of starters.

Fourteen more players will make the All-Star team as reserves. They will be selected by head coaches of the NBA teams, who are set to cast their votes by the end of the week. Each coach will have an opportunity to make seven selections from the Western Conference and seven selections from the Eastern Conference.

James and Durant will get to pick their teams from the pool of starters and reserves via draft on March 4th.

This year’s NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to take place in Atlanta on March 7th. Both the game and other competitions will take place on the same night.

The post NBA Announces All-Star Starters, LeBron James and Kevin Durant Named Captains appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It appears that this year’s NBA All-Star festivities will go beyond virtual reality despite the coronavirus pandemic.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA and Players Association are closing in on an agreement that would see the 2021 All-Star Game taking place in Atlanta on March 7th. Besides the game between West and East All-Stars, the single-night event will also include skills competitions.

The overall plan for the All-Star game is already in place, but the NBA and players union are currently working out the finer details. This includes safety and health protocols, transportation, and other requirements.

Players that don’t get to be part of the All-Star festivities will be able to travel inside the United States during the break, but won’t be allowed to leave the country. They also need to re-join their teams at least two days before they are scheduled to resume the regular season.

The league and the union are optimistic about the event, although some of the top players in the league already expressed their displeasure with the news. This includes LA Lakers superstar LeBron James, who called the event “a slap in the face” in a chat with reporters on Thursday night.

“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” said James. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game.”

The post NBA Plans to Host the 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta in March appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The teams for the 2020 NBA All-Star games are set. Team captains Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers made their pick out of the draft pool of All-Star starters and reserves on Thursday night during a televised draft on TNT.

James had the first pick in the draft, and he decided to use it to select his teammate Anthony Davis. Antetokounmpo countered with Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid. For the rest of the starters, James took Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, and Houston Rockets’ James Harden. Antetokounmpo decided to go with Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam, Boston Celtics’ Kemba Walker, and Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young.

Curiously, we will get the East vs. West Conference matchup despite the NBA’s new format for All-Star game.

James picked up the majority of the Western Conference players in his team, with 76ers’ Ben Simmons, Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, and Indiana Pacers’ Domontas Sabonis being the outliers.

Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, went with the majority of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, picking just Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and New Orleans Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram from West.

Check out the full draft and rosters below. 

The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will take place in Chicago on February 16th.

The post Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James Make Their 2020 All-Star Game Picks appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The annual event of the summer in the baseball world was held on Tuesday night as the American League faced off against the National League in the MLB All-Star Game.

This year’s edition was held on the banks of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, where the weather gods blessed Progressive Field and the event with perfect 75 degree and sunny weather.

For the seventh consecutive year, the AL recorded a victory over their interleague rivals, beating the NL by a 4-3 final score.

The night was defined by strong pitching performance, as both team’s staffs combined to allow only 7 runs and record 23 strikeouts.

Fittingly, Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber, a late injury replacement on the American League squad, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after a perfect fifth inning in which he recorded strikeouts of Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte, and Ronald Acuña.

Two hitters went yard on the night, with Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo each recording a long ball.

The exhibition game, which no longer has any bearing on home-field advantage for the World Series, was a relaxed event which was enjoyed by all of the stars that participated.

Baseball action will kick off again this weekend.

The post AL Defeats NL 4-3 to Win MLB All-Star Game appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA is considering making another change to the All-Star Game format. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Friday that the league might scrap the current draft format and go back to Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference matchup once again.

Charania reports that the format change, among other concepts, was a point of discussion during the league’s recent Board of Governor and general manager meetings.

The league and NBA Players’ Association agreed to make changes to the All-Star Game in their most recent collective bargaining agreement. Reportedly, the changes might be implemented as soon as the 2023-24 season. The 2024 NBA All-Star weekend is set to take place in Indianapolis.

The NBA has been looking for ways to make the All-Star game more competitive in recent seasons. It made several changes in recent editions, including organizing a draft in which a player with All-Star fan votes from each conference would serve as a captain and draft a team from a pool of starters and reserves.

The draft concept was used in the last five editions of the All-Star game, seeing Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James serving as a captain in all of them. Prior to that, the league had used the West vs. East format since the inception of the All-Star game in 1951.

The post NBA Considering Changes to All-Star Game Format appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA has completed the roster for the 2023 All-Star Game. One week after announcing starters, the league now also shared the players who will take part in All-Star festivities as reserves.

The All-Star reserves were selected based on the votes from coaches around the league and consisted of seven players for each conference.

The Eastern Conference All-Star reserves are Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), and Julius Randle (New York Knicks). Haliburton will be playing his first All-Star game, while six players from the list have at least one previous All-Star selection.

The Western Conference All-Star reserves are Paul George (LA Clippers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies), Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings). There are three debutants in the West, with Gilgeous-Alexander, Jackson Jr., and Markkanen earning their first nods.

The Los Angeles’ LeBron James and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo were previously announced as captains of their respective teams. As in previous years, the captains will take part in the All-Star draft, first selecting four players from the starters’ pool and then seven players from the reserves’ pool. However, there will be one massive change this year, with the draft taking place right before the game.

The 2023 All-Star game will take place on February 19th at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The post NBA Announces 2023 All-Star Game Reserves appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While the 2022 NBA All-Star Game offered more excitement compared to some previous editions, the outcome was the same. Team LeBron once again emerged victorious, beating Team Durant 163-160 in a thrilling fashion on Sunday night in Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse arena.

The game remained competitive until the very end before LeBron James secured a win for his team with a fadeaway over Zach LaVine.

James, who finished the game with 24 points, said after the game that this was a special moment for him, considering he grew up just in Akron, Ohio, which is just half an hour’s drive from the arena.

“I couldn’t have dreamt it,” James told the reporters. “I could not have dreamed of that moment any better than the actuality that just happened.”

LeBron James was named the All-Star captain every year since NBA changed the All-Star Game format in 2018. The teams he picked are now 5-0 in these games.

While James hit the game-winner, Stephen Curry took the spotlight as the star of the night. Curry scored 50 points while making an unbelievable 16 three-pointers. This easily topped the previous All-Star record of nine three-pointers by a single player and stands as the most-scored ever in an NBA game.

Curry, who was born in Akron as well, took home the Most Valuable Player honors. This was his first career NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy.

“It was kind of a perfect ending. Obviously, I got the MVP; I played well the whole night. He [James] hit the game-winner,” said Curry. “All the history of our series and the Akron ties, and all that kind of going into how the night went, so it was pretty—can’t really draw it up any other way.”

Team Durant, who played without their captain Kevin Durant, was led by Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who had 36 points and 10 rebounds. Devin Booker had 20 points, while LaMelo Ball and Dejounte Murray added 18 points and 17 points, respectively.

The post Team LeBron Tops Team Durant in the 2022 All-Star Game, Stephen Curry Named MVP appeared first on SportzBonanza.

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have gone against each other at the All-Star games in the past two years, but this time around, they will be teammates.

James had the first pick in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game draft on Thursday night and didn’t hesitate to use it on Antetokounmpo. The Lakers superstar then added an intimidating backcourt in Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) with his next two picks before finishing off his starting lineup with Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets).

Kevin Durant, who captains the East team but won’t play because of hamstring issues, went with his teammate Kyrie Irving as the first pick. He then paired Irving with NBA leading scorer Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), at the guard position, and also got the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.

From the reserves pool, KD unsurprisingly went with his second Nets teammate James Harden and continued to focus on scorers by selecting Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Zion Williamson (NO Pelicans), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Julius Randle (NY Knicks), Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic) and Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz).

James, on the other hand, went with a more balanced approach. He selected the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the 76ers’ Ben Simmons, the Suns’ Chris Paul, the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, the Clippers’ Paul George, the Indiana Pacers’ Sabonis, and the Jazz’s Rudy Gobert.

The 2021 NBA All-Star game will take place in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Besides the bragging rights, the winning team will secure a contribution to a charity of their choice. James selected Thurgood Marshall College Fund in case his team wins while Durant’s team is playing to help the Negro College Fund.

You can check out the entire video of the draft below.

The post LeBron James Takes Giannis, KD Selects Kyrie Irving in 2021 NBA All-Star Game Draft appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant won’t be able to participate in this year’s All-Star Game. Durant, who was set to captain the East team, is dealing with a strained hamstring, according to the official announcement, and is set to be out around two weeks.

Durant will be replaced on the Eastern Conference pool of All-Stars by Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis.

The All-Star invite for Sabonis, which is his second in a row, isn’t a surprise considering he has been averaging a career-high 21.4 points and 5.9 assists to go with 11.4 rebounds so far this season.

The NBA also announced that the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum was named a starter in this year’s All-Star game. Tatum was initially supposed to be a reserve, but will now take Durant’s place in the starting five.

Despite his absence off the court, Kevin Durant will keep his captain duties. He will get to draft his team that will be facing off against LeBron James from the All-Star pool, although it remains to be seen whether the 32-year-old star will actually make the trip to Atlanta and be present at State Farm Arena.

Durant strained his hamstring in early February and has since missed nine games. He is currently averaging 29 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game for the No. 2-seeded Brooklyn Nets.

The post Kevin Durant Won’t Play in All-Star Game, Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis to Replace Him appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA revealed the reserves for this year’s All-Star Game in Atlanta on Tuesday with the Brooklyn Nets’ James Harden, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons, and the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell headlining the list.

The All-Star reserves were selected by the head coaches of the NBA teams. Each coach picked seven All-Stars from the East and seven All-Stars from the West, with the top vote-getters making the cut.

Besides Harden and Simmons, the pool of All-Star reserves from the Eastern Conference also has the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine, the New York Knicks’ Julius Randle, and the Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic.

The Nets’ Kevin Durant was previously selected as the captain of the East, with the Nets’ Kyrie Irving, the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the 76ers’ Joel Embiid taking the starters spots.

In the West, Mitchell will be joined by his Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, the LA Clippers’ Paul George, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson.

The Lakers’ LeBron James will captain the West, with Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Kawhi Leonard (Clippers), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), and Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors) being in the starters pool as well.

James’ team will be coached by Quin Snyder, whose Utah Jazz is currently first in the Western Conference with a 25-6 record. The Philadelphia 76ers’ Doc Rivers will be the head coach of Durant’s team.

The 2021 All-Star game will take place on March 7th in the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena.

The post James Harden, Ben Simmons, and Donovan Mitchell Among All-Star Reserves appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The voting for this year’s NBA All-Star game wrapped up this week, and the league officially named starters for each conference on Thursday.

On the Western Conference end, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James received the most votes and was named the captain. The starters also will include the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, and the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry.

The captain from the Eastern Conference will be the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant. He will be joined by his Nets’ teammate Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) in the East’s pool of starters.

Fourteen more players will make the All-Star team as reserves. They will be selected by head coaches of the NBA teams, who are set to cast their votes by the end of the week. Each coach will have an opportunity to make seven selections from the Western Conference and seven selections from the Eastern Conference.

James and Durant will get to pick their teams from the pool of starters and reserves via draft on March 4th.

This year’s NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to take place in Atlanta on March 7th. Both the game and other competitions will take place on the same night.

The post NBA Announces All-Star Starters, LeBron James and Kevin Durant Named Captains appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It appears that this year’s NBA All-Star festivities will go beyond virtual reality despite the coronavirus pandemic.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA and Players Association are closing in on an agreement that would see the 2021 All-Star Game taking place in Atlanta on March 7th. Besides the game between West and East All-Stars, the single-night event will also include skills competitions.

The overall plan for the All-Star game is already in place, but the NBA and players union are currently working out the finer details. This includes safety and health protocols, transportation, and other requirements.

Players that don’t get to be part of the All-Star festivities will be able to travel inside the United States during the break, but won’t be allowed to leave the country. They also need to re-join their teams at least two days before they are scheduled to resume the regular season.

The league and the union are optimistic about the event, although some of the top players in the league already expressed their displeasure with the news. This includes LA Lakers superstar LeBron James, who called the event “a slap in the face” in a chat with reporters on Thursday night.

“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” said James. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game.”

The post NBA Plans to Host the 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta in March appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The teams for the 2020 NBA All-Star games are set. Team captains Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers made their pick out of the draft pool of All-Star starters and reserves on Thursday night during a televised draft on TNT.

James had the first pick in the draft, and he decided to use it to select his teammate Anthony Davis. Antetokounmpo countered with Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid. For the rest of the starters, James took Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, and Houston Rockets’ James Harden. Antetokounmpo decided to go with Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam, Boston Celtics’ Kemba Walker, and Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young.

Curiously, we will get the East vs. West Conference matchup despite the NBA’s new format for All-Star game.

James picked up the majority of the Western Conference players in his team, with 76ers’ Ben Simmons, Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, and Indiana Pacers’ Domontas Sabonis being the outliers.

Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, went with the majority of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, picking just Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and New Orleans Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram from West.

Check out the full draft and rosters below. 

The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will take place in Chicago on February 16th.

The post Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James Make Their 2020 All-Star Game Picks appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The annual event of the summer in the baseball world was held on Tuesday night as the American League faced off against the National League in the MLB All-Star Game.

This year’s edition was held on the banks of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, where the weather gods blessed Progressive Field and the event with perfect 75 degree and sunny weather.

For the seventh consecutive year, the AL recorded a victory over their interleague rivals, beating the NL by a 4-3 final score.

The night was defined by strong pitching performance, as both team’s staffs combined to allow only 7 runs and record 23 strikeouts.

Fittingly, Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber, a late injury replacement on the American League squad, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after a perfect fifth inning in which he recorded strikeouts of Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte, and Ronald Acuña.

Two hitters went yard on the night, with Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo each recording a long ball.

The exhibition game, which no longer has any bearing on home-field advantage for the World Series, was a relaxed event which was enjoyed by all of the stars that participated.

Baseball action will kick off again this weekend.

The post AL Defeats NL 4-3 to Win MLB All-Star Game appeared first on SportzBonanza.