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NBA All-Star Game: Antetokounmpo, Jokic Headline 2025 Starters
Vivek Jacob is a freelance sports writer with over seven years experience. During this time, he has written for outlets including The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Sportsnet, CBC, and Complex. Primarily covering the NBA, Vivek also covers tennis, soccer, and cricket.
All posts by Vivek JacobUpdated15 mins ago on January 23, 2025
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic headline the starters for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game to be held in San Francisco’s Chase Center.
Joining Antetokounmpo as starters for the Eastern Conference are Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns.
Alongside Jokic in the West will be Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
At the age of 40, James will be extending his record of All-Star appearances to 21.
Brunson Makes Big Comeback
After the second returns came in, the Charlotte Hornets’ LaMelo Ball was leading East guards in fan voting with nearly 1.5 million votes.
At the time, Brunson was fourth among East guards with 934,860 votes and was firmly on the outside looking in, also trailing Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard.
Though Ball did finish as the leading vote getter for East guards among fans, Brunson looks to have attained enough votes from the players and media to finish as a starting guard alongside Mitchell.
Ball finished third in the vote getting among players and seventh in voting among media.
Current players and media account for 25 percent of the vote, each, while fans account for 50 percent of the vote.
More Starters To Come
With the All-Star Game’s new format, it means while these 10 starters are guaranteed, there will still be another five starters announced by virtue of there being three teams to divide the All-Stars.
The next step in the process is determined by the league’s 30 head coaches, who will now vote for 14 reserves. Seven will come from the East and another seven from the West.
Reserves will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 30.
If any All-Star is unable to compete in the game, commissioner Adam Silver will step in to select a replacement.
