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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

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LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell Named Players Of The Week

February 3rd, 2025 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA world still buzzing about one of the biggest trades in Lakers history, LeBron James has been named the Player of the Week for the Western Conference, the league announced today (Twitter link).

In four games from January 27 to February 2, James averaged 27.5 points, 10.0 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per night, making 53.8% of his field goal attempts and leading the Lakers to a 3-1 record, with road victories over Charlotte, Washington, and New York.

It’s the 69th time in James’ career that he has earned Player of the Week honors and the first time this season. He beat out fellow nominees Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Ivica Zubac, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

Over in the Eastern Conference, the Player of the Week award went to Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell. He and backcourt mate Darius Garland are now two of the five players who have been named Player of the Week twice in 2024/25 — Mitchell also earned the honor on November 4.

Mitchell’s numbers during Cleveland’s past four games weren’t especially gaudy — he averaged just 22.8 points and 6.0 assists per contest. However, the Cavaliers went 4-0 in those games, Mitchell’s shooting line was a scorching-hot .533/.406/.933, and Cleveland outscored its opponents by a staggering 91 points during his 112 minutes. Put another way, the guard’s net rating last week was +36.4.

The other nominees for the award in the East were Bam Adebayo, Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, Jayson Tatum, and Pacers teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.

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Central Notes: Siakam, Bickerstaff, Horton-Tucker, White, Garland

January 30th, 2025 at 9:36am CST by Dana Gauruder

Pascal Siakam enhanced his case for All-Star consideration with a 37-point performance against the Pistons on Wednesday. The Pacers forward is averaging 20.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Siakam has been selected to the All-Star Game twice during his career. The reserves will be revealed during a TNT broadcast tonight.

“He’s unbelievable,” point guard Tyrese Haliburton told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “In the mid-range, he’s really tough to guard. Ever since he’s got here, that low post and mid post has been one of the most efficient shots in basketball. Keep feeding him, he gets the ball in the right spots. We played a lot of two-man game today. He just stayed with the ball and that allowed me to get him the ball and get him open shots.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The Pistons‘ 133-119 loss to Indiana was their third straight after starting out a five-game road trip with a pair of victories. Things got heated, as Isaiah Stewart was ejected for a flagrant foul, while coach J.B. Bickerstaff and a couple of players picked up technicals. It’s perhaps a signal that the old Detroit-Indiana rivalry has restarted. “Our guys care and compete at a high level,” Bickerstaff said. “There is no opponent that we are going to shy away from. We are going to be who we are. We are going to earn the respect of this league, whoever it is. Everybody is going to respect the Pistons and the way we compete.”
  • Talen Horton-Tucker suffered a left shin injury during the Bulls loss to Boston on Wednesday, the team tweets. On the flip side, Coby White returned from a four-game absence due to a bone bruise in his left ankle. He started and played 31 minutes, contributing 16 points, Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune notes.
  • The Cavaliers rested Darius Garland and had only 10 players in uniform for their game against Miami on Wednesday, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). It didn’t matter, as they never trailed in a 126-106 romp that featured a 34-point outing from Donovan Mitchell.
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NBA Unveils 2025 All-Star Game Starters

January 23rd, 2025 at 7:01pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The 2025 All-Star Game starters were revealed on Thursday during Inside the NBA’s pregame show and confirmed by the NBA on social media (Twitter links).

In the Eastern Conference, a pair of Knicks made the cut, with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns – in his first season in New York – earning nods. Joining Brunson in the backcourt is Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, while Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo secured frontcourt spots.

Lakers star LeBron James extended his all-time record to 21 consecutive All-Star selections in the Western Conference. Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accounted for the backcourt spots in the West while Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Kevin Durant of the Suns joined James as frontcourt starters.

The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.

The reserves, who are picked by the league’s coaches, will be announced on Jan. 30. LaMelo Ball of the Hornets narrowly missed out on being a starter after ranking first in the fan vote, having finished third in player voting and seventh in the media vote. The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama also barely missed out, finishing second in media voting but fourth for both players and fans.

Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, De’Aaron Fox, Devin Booker, Norman Powell, Anthony Davis, Jalen Williams, Alperen Sengun, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland, Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro, Evan Mobley and Jaylen Brown are among the names who could be voted in as reserves.

The 74th NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 16 will feature a new format, complete with a mini-tournament composed of four teams and three games. Two teams will meet in a semifinal while the other two will play in another. The victors in each of those games will meet in a final. The winner of each game is the first to 40 points.

The format change means that the 10 players named starters on Thursday won’t be the only players who actually start on All-Star Sunday. The 24 players ultimately named All-Stars will be split among three eight-man teams, with the roster’s drafted by Inside the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

The draft will air on Feb. 6 on TNT. The fourth team of eight players will be made up of the winning team from the Rising Stars event.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

The full voting results can be found here.

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And-Ones: All-Star Game, Fernando, Snyder, NBRPA, Woj

January 22nd, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Six NBA reporters at The Athletic, including Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon, made their picks for the Eastern and Western Conference All-Star starters, with all six writers selecting the same three frontcourt players in the East: Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were the only unanimous choices in the West. Meanwhile, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama each showed up on all but one of the six ballots from The Athletic’s reporters.

The NBA will officially announce this year’s All-Star starters on Thursday evening during a TNT broadcast. The starters are determined by votes from fans (50%), players (25%), and the media (25%).

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran NBA big man Bruno Fernando, who was waived earlier this month by Toronto before his full-season salary could become guaranteed, is in talks with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, as Michalis Gioylenoglou reports for Eurohoops.net. Gioylenoglou describes Fernando as becoming more open to making the move to Europe after having initially been reluctant to head across the Atlantic. However, no deal is done yet.
  • Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is among the candidates receiving serious consideration to become the next coach of Australia’s national team, sources tell Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The Boomers are seeking a successor to Brian Goorjian, who coached the national team at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
  • Former NBA big man Antonio Davis, who appeared in over 900 games from 1993-2006 and made an All-Star team with Toronto in 2001, has been named the CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). According to Spears, Davis will “drive the strategic visions, business operations, member services, and growth” of the NBRPA, a non-profit association representing former NBA players.
  • In a feature story for The New York Times, Bruce Schoenfeld checks in on Adrian Wojnarowski, exploring why the former star news-breaker, who was making $7.3MM annually at ESPN, accepted a job at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, that pays him about one percent of that amount ($75K per year).
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Eastern Notes: Celtics, Sixers, Risacher, Mitchell

January 19th, 2025 at 6:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Could the defending champions be lacking in confidence? The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn believes so. The Celtics have become an unreliable team capable of crumbling in crucial moments of games, according to Washburn. They are losing games that would have won last season, though they still have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The injury-riddled Sixers have lost five straight and they can’t form a coherent rotation until they get more key players back in action, coach Nick Nurse told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. “We gotta just get a little healthier around a lot of positions right now to get to where we can get a little decent clarity,” he said. Joel Embiid, Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and KJ Martin all missed Saturday’s loss to Indiana.
  • The Hawks offered a clarification regarding Zaccharie Risacher‘s injury. Initially listed as left adductor irritation, it’s now called a strain, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. The Hawks are expected to provide an update on the 2024 top pick prior to Wednesday’s game. Risacher was injured last Tuesday.
  • Donovan Mitchell bounced back in a big way from his eight-point outing against Oklahoma City, pouring in 36 points in a victory over Minnesota on Saturday, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com notes. That was the highest scoring output by the Cavaliers guard since a 37-point performance against Chicago in mid-November.
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And-Ones: All-Star Voting, New Leagues, Midseason Awards

January 17th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

The third update on fan voting for the All-Star Game has Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Kevin Durant heading the list of Western Conference frontcourt players, the NBA announced on Thursday (via Twitter). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic have received the most votes among Western Conference backcourt players.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns are the top three vote-getters among Eastern Conference frontcourt players, while LaMelo Ball, Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard have the most votes among the conference’s backcourt players.

The fan vote counts for 50 percent regarding All-Star starters. Player voting and a media panel’s selections are weighed at 25 percent apiece. Fan voting ends Monday and the All-Star starters will be revealed on Thursday during a TNT broadcast.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Will a new basketball league to challenge the NBA come to fruition? According to Bloomberg.com, a group of investors being advised by Maverick Carter, LeBron’s business partner, is seeking to raise $5 billion from private capital sources to form an international basketball league. James himself is not part of the efforts to form this new league, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The investors, which includes multiple private equity funds, are looking to form a league consisting of six men’s teams and six women’s teams playing games around the world, Charania adds.
  • Speaking of international games, NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast that discussions have been held regarding a new European league, Eurohoops relays. “One of the things we’ve been discussing is whether, before adding NBA franchises in Europe, there’s an opportunity to create an independent league there. This could leverage the enormous interest in basketball in major European capitals like Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid— and other major cities that love basketball,” Silver said. Discussions between the NBA and FIBA regarding the proposed league have previously been reported.
  • Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and Liam McKeone hand out their midseason awards, including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Mannix chooses Gilgeous-Alexander as his midseason MVP, while McKeone selects Jokic. They also take a look at the highs and lows of the season so far.
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Trade Rumors: Bigs, Hornets, Raptors, Cavaliers

January 16th, 2025 at 3:28pm CST by Rory Maher

Of the four in-season trades already completed in 2024/25, two largely revolved around centers. More big men could be on the move prior to the February 6 trade deadline.

According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer (Substack link), the Jazz are “actively exploring the market” for forward/center John Collins. The same is true of the Wizards and Jonas Valanciunas, though a recent report stated that Washington wouldn’t simply ship him off to the highest bidder.

League sources also tell the authors that the Bulls have welcomed trade calls on Nikola Vucevic for “weeks.”

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype recently reported that the Warriors have checked in on all three of the aforementioned players.

Here are some more trade rumors from Stein and Fischer:

  • After trading Nick Richards to the Suns, head of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said the Hornets will continue to “listen to everything” in order to build a sustainable contender. Josh Green, Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic are among the other Hornets who could be on the trade block, according to Stein and Fischer, who report that Charlotte is open to discussing second-year guard Nick Smith Jr. as well.
  • Veteran swingman Bruce Brown has been viewed as a trade candidate since he was acquired by the Raptors last year, but he remains on Toronto’s roster for now. It’s possible his $23MM expiring contract — and the fact that he has missed most of the season while recovering from offseason knee surgery — has been a roadblock in trade talks, but that may not be true for Chris Boucher, whose $10.8MM expiring deal is described by Stein and Fischer as “very movable.”
  • The Cavaliers signed Jarrett Allen to a three-year, $91MM extension on August 2. The timing of that deal wasn’t a coincidence — Cleveland insisted on the agreement being finalized before Aug. 6, so Allen would be trade-eligible before the deadline (Feb. 2). However, the former All-Star center is (unsurprisingly) not available in trade talks, in part due to the team’s league-best record. Aside from Allen, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, who are all off limits, the Cavs have been “listening to pitches” on other players but are “generally reluctant” to mess with the team’s chemistry, per Stein and Fischer.
  • “Good” second-round picks — selections that land in the early 30s — are believed to be at a premium in trade talks, in part due to the restrictions of the new tax aprons, Stein and Fischer add.
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Central Notes: Jackson, Beal, Hardaway, Mitchell

January 16th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. suffered a right hip contusion late in the first half against Orlando on Wednesday, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jackson did not return in the second half. Milwaukee is currently playing without Gary Trent Jr., who strained a left hip flexor against the Magic on Jan. 12.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • What are the chances that the Pistons — the only team currently with cap room — will acquire Bradley Beal from the Sunsl? Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois writes in his latest mailbag that he doubts Beal would waive his no-trade clause to come to Detroit. Langlois is also skeptical that the Pistons’ front office would want to hamstring their cap flexibility by taking on Beal’s contract, which has two more years remaining.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. has not only become a valuable part of the Pistons’ rotation, he’s also embraced the role of veteran leadership. Hardaway, a free agent after the season, was acquired from Dallas in an offseason trade. “We’re here for a great cause,” he told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic regarding the team’s veteran acquisitions. “We’re here to help the young guys and do the best we can to make their jobs easier out there on the floor. They’re doing a great job of listening and being sponges.”
  • In a subscriber-only story, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor describes how Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell delivered a vintage performance against Indiana on Tuesday to avenge a loss to the Pacers two days earlier. Mitchell, who has focused more on spreading out the offensive wealth this season, scored 35 points in the victory, his highest output since Dec. 1.
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Cavaliers Notes: Thunder Matchup, Garland, Mitchell

January 10th, 2025 at 12:22pm CST by Rory Maher

Entering Wednesday’s matchup in Cleveland, the Thunder had won 15 consecutive games (not including the NBA Cup Final, which doesn’t count toward a team’s record season record), while the Cavaliers had won 10 straight. It was the first time in NBA history that two teams had faced off with such lengthy winning streaks on the line.

In a high-level affair that featured 30 lead changes and eight ties, the Cavaliers emerged victorious in the marquee showdown, firmly staking their claim as the league’s best team, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

“I don’t know where to rank them, but they have definitely earned their record,” Thunder forward Jalen Williams said. “You don’t get to 32-4 by accident.”

As Vardon writes, several players from both teams shined throughout the game, but Cleveland center Jarrett Allen may have had the top individual performance, notching 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block with no turnovers in 32 minutes. He shot 9-of-11 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line.

On a night in which Donovan Mitchell uncharacteristically struggled, scoring just 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting, the Cavs received major contributions off the bench from Max Strus (17 points on 6-of-7 shooting) and Ty Jerome (15 points on 6-of-7 shooting), Vardon notes.

“I told everybody after the game, as a unit we don’t win this game last year,” Mitchell said. “Everybody that came in did something positive to affect the game. … That’s a team win. That’s what it’s going to take to be the team we want to be.”

Here’s more on the Cavs:

  • ESPN insiders Tim Bontemps, Kevin Pelton and Brian Windhorst share their takeaways from the matchup between Cleveland and Oklahoma City, which many observers have called the best game of the 2024/25 season. The two clubs will have a rematch in OKC next week (January 16).
  • After Wednesday’s victory, point guard Darius Garland said he should be an All-Star and that he’s not the only Cavalier who deserves that honor, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I’m trying to be humble as possible,” Garland said. “But … yeah, I should be an All-Star. Yes. There should be four of us on this team that are All-Stars.” While he didn’t state it outright, Garland was referring to himself, Mitchell, Allen and Evan Mobley, who was also terrific on Wednesday (21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists).
  • Garland backed up that statement by leading the Cavs to their 12th straight victory on Thursday vs. Toronto, pushing the team’s record to 33-4, Fedor writes for Cleveland.com (subscriber link). Mitchell sat out the second game of the back-to-back to rest. Garland, who turns 25 years old later this month, scored a season-high 40 points (on elite efficiency) while dishing out nine assists in the six-point win. Cleveland outscored Toronto by 18 points in his 36 minutes of action.
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