The 72nd annual NBA All-Star game will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Vivint Arena which is home to the franchise Utah Jazz. Voting for All-Star began on December 20th, 2022 and will conclude on January 21st, 2023. Fans have the opportunity to place votes for their favorite players or who they think deserve to be the starters in the big game. If you want to see your favorite player make the game, head over to NBA.com to place your votes. Fans account for 50% of the vote for starters while the players and select media panel will account for 25% each. The reserves for the game are selected by NBA head coaches. On January 26th, TNT will reveal who the starters will be and also the team captains. The player from each conference with the most votes is determined as team captain. On February 2nd, TNT will then announce who the reserves are.
With the league’s talent getting better and better every year, it becomes difficult to select who will get their names filled onto the 24 spots for the game. Each year there seems to be controversy/debates once all the players are announced for the game and this year will be no different. The two announcements I’m most excited about are: who will be the starting guards in the Western Conference and who will be the starting forwards in the Eastern Conference.
In the near future I would expect the roster amount to go up to 30 spots and include 15 players from each conference but for now it remains 24 total players. So who makes the cut?
Here are my predictions for who will be an All Star in this year’s game.
Western Conference
Starters:
- Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
- Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)
- LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)
- Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
Reserves:
- Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz)
- Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings)
Snubs:
- DeAaron Fox (Sacramento Kings)
- Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns)
- Jerami Grant (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets)
Eastern Conference
Starters:
- Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets)
- Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
- Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
Reserves:
- Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers)
- Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
- Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks)
- DeMar Derozan (Chicago Bulls)
- Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat)
- Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors)
- Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
Snubs:
- Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)
- Julius Randle (New York Knicks)
- Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Kyle Kuzma (Washington Wizards)
