The 2024 NBA All-Star Game saw the Eastern Conference All-Stars securing a resounding 211-186 win over the West All-Star team. Milwaukee Bucks’ point guard Damian Lillard won the All-Star MVP honor, his career first, with a 39-point performance and 11 three-pointers made.

East and West combined for 397 points, making the Sunday night’s contest the highest-scoring NBA All-Star Game in history. The previous record was 374 points when the West beat the East 192-182 in 2017.

Besides Lillard, other standout performers were Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns with 50 points and eight rebounds and Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, who finished the game with 32 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Haliburton, playing in his home arena, received five votes for the MVP honors.

The All-Star weekend helped Lillard become a part of a rare company. Aside from receiving the Kobe Bryant MVP trophy, Lillard also repeated as the 3-Point Contest champion on Saturday. In doing so, he became the only player alongside Michael Jordan to win an All-Star contest and receive All-Star MVP honors in the same year.

“Anytime you’re mentioned in the same category as Mike, it’s an honor, it’s a major accomplishment, even if it’s All-Star Weekend,” Lillard said after the game. “Because if it was that simple, more people would have done it.”

The post East Tops West in 2024 NBA All-Star Game, Bucks’ Damian Lillard Wins MVP appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA All-Star game will revert back to its original format when it commences this season in Indianapolis, league officials confirmed on Wednesday. This marks an end to the updated All-Star game format that has been used over the past six seasons.

Originally, the All-Star game consisted of an Eastern Conference and Western Conference team of 12 players from each conference. “The theme this year is ‘Back to basketball,'” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver declared to reporters on Wednesday. “We’re looking at some potential changes in format. Maybe a return to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented.”

This year, the captains of each team will be selected through voting by fans. Each of the five starting players in each NBA franchise will be up for selection. According to Silver, the decision to re-format comes as the league looks to ensure that fans get a competitive game that is enjoyable to watch despite lacking the intensity of playoff and regular-season games.

The post NBA Reverts Back to Original Format For All-Star Game appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA might change the All-Star game format once again. But this time, instead of doing something new, the league is considering going back to basics.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a recent interview with Stephen A. Smith that the East vs. West format could make its return for the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.

“We’re looking at some potential changes in format in Indianapolis this year,” Silver said. “Maybe a return to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented. We went to sort of this captain and draft notion, but clearly historically it was East vs. West. So that’s maybe something we are looking at.”

The NBA All-Star Game traditionally featured a showdown between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference since its inception in 1951. However, in an attempt to make the game more interesting, the league switched to a draft format in 2017.

Under the new format, two players with the most All-Star votes were named captains of their respective teams. The captains would then select their team via draft from a pool of All-Star starters and reserves.

While the change was initially popular with NBA fans because of the draft, it still didn’t lead to more competitive games like the league hoped for. That might be the reason why the idea of conference rivalry is suddenly appealing again.  

The post NBA Considering a Return to East vs. West Format for 2024 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 showed once again that he knows how to select a winning roster. His team delivered a dominant performance at the 2021 NBA All-Star Game and walked away with a 170-150 win over Team Durant.

The two teams made it interesting in the first quarter, in which Team LeBron narrowly finished ahead with 40-39. Team Durant fell apart in the second, allowing 60 points and falling behind massively.

In the second half, Team LeBron just focused on maintaining their lead and had no issue approaching the “Elam Ending” target score. Portland Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard was the one to close out the game, channeling his “Dame Time” and delivering a deep three to make it 170 for his squad.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was the star of the evening, scoring game-high 35 points while shooting a perfect 16 out of 16 from the floor. His efforts were recognized with an NBA All-Star MVP Award, which now carries the name of late LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

“My team played great, and I was able to just win it,” said Antetokounmpo after the game. “And to have the trophy with the name of Kobe Bryant, it’s amazing, and I know he would be happy. Yeah, I know he’d be happy.”

The Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal and Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving were the top performers for Team Durant. Beal scored 26 points, followed by Irving’s 24 points and 12 assists.

Regarding the Skills Challenge, the Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis emerged as the most skillful player, beating Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic.

Steph Curry got his second 3-Point Contest win, edging out the Utah Jazz’s Mike Conley in a nail-bitter.

And Portland Trail Blazers’ guard Anfernee Simons had the best dunks, finishing ahead of the Indiana Pacers’ Cassius Stanley and the NY Knicks’ Obi Toppin.

The post Team LeBron Wins NBA All-Star Game, Giannis Antetokounmpo 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 2024 NBA All-Star Game saw the Eastern Conference All-Stars securing a resounding 211-186 win over the West All-Star team. Milwaukee Bucks’ point guard Damian Lillard won the All-Star MVP honor, his career first, with a 39-point performance and 11 three-pointers made.

East and West combined for 397 points, making the Sunday night’s contest the highest-scoring NBA All-Star Game in history. The previous record was 374 points when the West beat the East 192-182 in 2017.

Besides Lillard, other standout performers were Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns with 50 points and eight rebounds and Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, who finished the game with 32 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Haliburton, playing in his home arena, received five votes for the MVP honors.

The All-Star weekend helped Lillard become a part of a rare company. Aside from receiving the Kobe Bryant MVP trophy, Lillard also repeated as the 3-Point Contest champion on Saturday. In doing so, he became the only player alongside Michael Jordan to win an All-Star contest and receive All-Star MVP honors in the same year.

“Anytime you’re mentioned in the same category as Mike, it’s an honor, it’s a major accomplishment, even if it’s All-Star Weekend,” Lillard said after the game. “Because if it was that simple, more people would have done it.”

The post East Tops West in 2024 NBA All-Star Game, Bucks’ Damian Lillard Wins MVP appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA All-Star game will revert back to its original format when it commences this season in Indianapolis, league officials confirmed on Wednesday. This marks an end to the updated All-Star game format that has been used over the past six seasons.

Originally, the All-Star game consisted of an Eastern Conference and Western Conference team of 12 players from each conference. “The theme this year is ‘Back to basketball,'” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver declared to reporters on Wednesday. “We’re looking at some potential changes in format. Maybe a return to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented.”

This year, the captains of each team will be selected through voting by fans. Each of the five starting players in each NBA franchise will be up for selection. According to Silver, the decision to re-format comes as the league looks to ensure that fans get a competitive game that is enjoyable to watch despite lacking the intensity of playoff and regular-season games.

The post NBA Reverts Back to Original Format For All-Star Game appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The NBA might change the All-Star game format once again. But this time, instead of doing something new, the league is considering going back to basics.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a recent interview with Stephen A. Smith that the East vs. West format could make its return for the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.

“We’re looking at some potential changes in format in Indianapolis this year,” Silver said. “Maybe a return to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented. We went to sort of this captain and draft notion, but clearly historically it was East vs. West. So that’s maybe something we are looking at.”

The NBA All-Star Game traditionally featured a showdown between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference since its inception in 1951. However, in an attempt to make the game more interesting, the league switched to a draft format in 2017.

Under the new format, two players with the most All-Star votes were named captains of their respective teams. The captains would then select their team via draft from a pool of All-Star starters and reserves.

While the change was initially popular with NBA fans because of the draft, it still didn’t lead to more competitive games like the league hoped for. That might be the reason why the idea of conference rivalry is suddenly appealing again.  

The post NBA Considering a Return to East vs. West Format for 2024 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 showed once again that he knows how to select a winning roster. His team delivered a dominant performance at the 2021 NBA All-Star Game and walked away with a 170-150 win over Team Durant.

The two teams made it interesting in the first quarter, in which Team LeBron narrowly finished ahead with 40-39. Team Durant fell apart in the second, allowing 60 points and falling behind massively.

In the second half, Team LeBron just focused on maintaining their lead and had no issue approaching the “Elam Ending” target score. Portland Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard was the one to close out the game, channeling his “Dame Time” and delivering a deep three to make it 170 for his squad.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was the star of the evening, scoring game-high 35 points while shooting a perfect 16 out of 16 from the floor. His efforts were recognized with an NBA All-Star MVP Award, which now carries the name of late LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

“My team played great, and I was able to just win it,” said Antetokounmpo after the game. “And to have the trophy with the name of Kobe Bryant, it’s amazing, and I know he would be happy. Yeah, I know he’d be happy.”

The Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal and Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving were the top performers for Team Durant. Beal scored 26 points, followed by Irving’s 24 points and 12 assists.

Regarding the Skills Challenge, the Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis emerged as the most skillful player, beating Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic.

Steph Curry got his second 3-Point Contest win, edging out the Utah Jazz’s Mike Conley in a nail-bitter.

And Portland Trail Blazers’ guard Anfernee Simons had the best dunks, finishing ahead of the Indiana Pacers’ Cassius Stanley and the NY Knicks’ Obi Toppin.

The post Team LeBron Wins NBA All-Star Game, Giannis Antetokounmpo 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.