The NBA declares important change to the All-Star Game Draft selection

For the first time since the captain concept was introduced with the Draft during the NBA All-Star Game, the star’s selection will be held just minutes before the beginning of the match between the best players in the league, and not within days of anticipation as it used to be.

The new Draft, in which the most voted players of each conference will build up their own rosters in regards of the highly-expected match, will take place on Sunday, February 19th (7:30pm ET) in the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz’s stadium can handle a capacity of 18,300 people.

Just 30 minutes later, at 8:00pm ET, the All-Star Game will start!

The @NBA and @TheNBPA announced today that TNT will air the 2023 NBA All-Star Draft as a new, live pregame segment at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. pic.twitter.com/heWwh4k8MR

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 25, 2023

So besides the change of date, the process of player selection remains the same: each captain will choose a first pick of four teammates to their starting lineups, and thereafter complete the roster with seven players going to the bench.

The captains will be announced tomorrow Thursday, January 26th at 7:00pm ET, during TNT’s coverage of the NBA and the rest of the All-Stars will be named at a later time. In past seasons, the captains have made their selections live on TNT, but never before has the draft been done right ahead of the All-Star Game.

Which players are most probable to appear that night?

As we’ve seen in the past, the two captains will be the fan’s most voted players from each conference, and after the last results shown by the NBA last week we believe Giannis Antetokoumpo from the Milwaukee Bucks will be chosen in the East, whereas Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James will represent the West.

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo lead their respective conferences in the third fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T.

Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each. pic.twitter.com/nqNZqkeVJw

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 19, 2023

If this was to come true, James would be tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for most All-Star Game appearances in NBA history, as the Lakers player would be making his 19th show the next month of February. This means only once LeBron wasn’t chosen for the All-Stars out of his 20 season-career so far. As we know, the King is also just a handful of games away of overcoming Kareem as the NBA’s highest total scorer.

As for Giannis Antetokounmpo, this would be the third time in his career that he has been the All-Star Game captain, after seven consecutive All-Star appearances for the Bucks’ big man.

Last year was a blast as the All-Star Game was between Team LeBron and Team Durant. The Brooklyn star chose Andrew Wiggins, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Ja Morant and Trae Young in his starting lineup. As for the Lakers player chose Giannis Antetokoumpo, Nikola Jokić, DeMar DeRozan and Stephen Curry.

Watch the best higlights of last year’s All-Star Game which was held in Cleveland:

James’ team finally won 163-160, with a last second game-winner, and after an insane 323 point exhibition between both teams! Stephen Curry was the highest scorer of the match with 50 points to his name, scoring from beyond the arc, time after time. As for the youngsters, Ja Morant and Zach Lavine had great highlight dunks and are expected to rejoin the celebration next month too.