The 2019 All-Star starters were announced on Thursday night, finally offering us some clarity on which players earned their selections based on a combination of fan, media, and player voting. We’re still, of course, waiting to find out who the reserves will be, as voted on by coaches. That will be revealed on TNT next Thursday, Jan. 31.
From that pool, the designated team captains will select their rosters, per the format implemented last year, only this year they’ll do it as part of a televised event, the NBA All-Star Draft Show, also on TNT on Feb. 7. Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James are the two captains, as they were the top two vote-getters in the fan voting.
Part of the fun is speculating just how they’ll chose their rosters, and Giannis was nice enough to offer a little insight into his decision-making process, saying that if they’re still on the board when the time comes, he’ll draft both Joel Embiid and Russell Westbrook, assuming the Thunder guard makes it in next week. He also said he’d choose teammates Kris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe if they are fortunate to be named reserves.
https://twitter.com/MyNBAUpdate/status/1088860542180249600
As part of the rules, Giannis will have to choose from the starter pool first, then select from the reserves. Westbrook is the likeliest of the three to make the cut, while Middleton is certainly deserving and Bledsoe is a much longer shot.
Pairing Westbrook with Embiid is an interesting idea, given their well-documented antipathy toward one another, but it appears Giannis wants to use this opportunity to play peacemaker. As lovely as that sounds, the league is quite simply a better place when Westbrook and Embiid are battling one another and talking trash, so let’s hope for our own selfish reasons we get to keep that.
