After a draft between LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the full rosters for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game are officially set.
In the wake of trade deadline madness, the rosters for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game are officially all set. The lead vote-getters in each conference, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, were designated as team captains under the new rules that went into effect in 2018, dividing the remaining 22 players into a draft pool for them to choose from (starting with the eight other starters, then opening things up to the 14 reserves).
This will be the first year in which the All-Star Game is played under a new format, where each of the first three quarters will feature the score being reset to zero, and the winning side in each quarter earning money for charity. Team LeBron will be playing for Chicago Scholars, while Team Giannis will play for After School Matters.
Then, in the fourth quarter, the totals will be added back up as usual, with one caveat: The team with the higher score must score 24 points to end the game, while the trailing team must score 24 points plus however many points they were trailing by through three quarters.
In other words, in this tribute to the late Kobe Bryant, add 24 points to the winning team’s total score through three quarters, and that’s the target score that either team must reach to win/end the whole All-Star Game.
On Thursday night, the team captains convened on TNT’s Inside The NBA to pick their teams. LeBron took Anthony Davis with the first overall pick to no one’s surprise, not only since they’re teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, but also because James picked him first among last year’s reserves for his All-Star roster.
Giannis followed up by picking Joel Embiid, citing him as his “African brother” and a good matchup for AD. LeBron countered with an all-L.A. team to that point, taking Kawhi Leonard with his second pick. Giannis kept the Africa vibes going by taking Pascal Siakam with his second pick, before LeBron added Luka Doncic. Once Giannis took Kemba Walker, a pattern was fully decided.
LeBron next took James Harden, and Giannis wound up with Trae Young as the final starter, so ultimately, the starters were divided perfectly into Western and Eastern Conference All-Stars — LeBron with all the Western guys and Giannis with all the Eastern starters.
Obligated by team bonds, Giannis started off the draft among the reserves pool by taking his Milwaukee Bucks teammate, Khris Middleton. LeBron snagged one of the hottest players in the league at that point with Damian Lillard, and 12 picks later, the rosters were decided.
Here’s the complete order of the picks made:
- Anthony Davis (LeBron)
- Joel Embiid (Giannis)
- Kawhi Leonard (LeBron)
- Pascal Siakam (Giannis)
- Luka Doncic (LeBron)
- Kemba Walker (Giannis)
- James Harden (LeBron)
- Trae Young (Giannis)
- Khris Middleton (Giannis)
- Damian Lillard (LeBron)
- Bam Adebayo (Giannis)
- Ben Simmons (LeBron)
- Rudy Gobert (Giannis)
- Nikola Jokic (LeBron)
- Jimmy Butler (Giannis)
- Jayson Tatum (LeBron)
- Kyle Lowry (Giannis)
- Chris Paul (LeBron)
- Brandon Ingram (Giannis)
- Russell Westbrook (LeBron)
- Donovan Mitchell (Giannis)
- Domantas Sabonis (LeBron)
And here’s how the full rosters shook out:
Team LeBron:
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
- Kawhi Leonard
- Luka Doncic
- James Harden
- Damian Lillard
- Ben Simmons
- Nikola Jokic
- Jayson Tatum
- Chris Paul
- Russell Westbrook
- Domantas Sabonis
Team Giannis:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Joel Embiid
- Pascal Siakam
- Kemba Walker
- Trae Young
- Khris Middleton
- Bam Adebayo
- Rudy Gobert
- Jimmy Butler
- Kyle Lowry
- Brandon Ingram
- Donovan Mitchell
By the looks of it, Team LeBron is fully stacked with star power once again, and should be considered the heavy favorite. However, Team Giannis features quite a few first-time All-Stars and fundamentally sound players. Perhaps those are the guys that will try the hardest, which could be the deciding factor in an exhibition game such as this, even with new rules that should make it more competitive throughout.
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 16.