Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has been named the captain of the Western Conference All-Star starters, receiving the most votes for a third consecutive year.
LeBron James is still recovering from a groin injury suffered on Christmas Day against the Golden State Warriors. James missed his 15th consecutive game tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled as a result.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Lakers have been 5-9 without James on the court. The 15 games, and counting, are not only the most consecutive games James has missed in his career, but the most games James will have missed in a single season in his illustrious career.
Despite the missed games, fans and people around the league know just how great James is. That appreciation was shown as James was named an NBA All-Star once again.
James was named an All-Star for the 15th time in his career. For the third consecutive year, James received the most votes of any player in the league. As a result, he is the All-Star game captain for the Western Conference.
The King becomes The Captain. 👑💫
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 25, 2019
Congrats to @KingJames on receiving the most All-Star votes of any player for the third straight year. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/O1aew2U30o
Joining James in the Western Conference starting lineup player pool is Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder. This was the 10th selection for Durant, while Curry and George are in their sixth All-Star game and 2019 will mark the fifth time for Harden.
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James was the only unanimous selection in the Western Conference. That means he finished first among the voting for the fans, players and media. Curry came close to accomplishing the same feat in the backcourt, but Harden was selected first by the media.
In the Eastern Conference, there were two unanimous choices, one in the frontcourt and one in the backcourt. Milwaukee Bucks’ forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was unanimous in the frontcourt and Boston Celtics’ point guard Kyrie Irving was unanimous in the backcourt.
Joining the Greek Freak and Irving in the starting lineup player pool for the Eastern Conference is Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors and Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets, who are hosting the event.
The Eastern Conference has a lot less All-Star game experience than the Western Conference in the starting lineup pools. Irving leads the way with this being his sixth appearance, followed by third timers Anteokounmpo, Leonard and Walker. It is the second appearance for Embiid.
Antetokounmpo is the captain in the Eastern conference. He and James will draft teams on Feb. 7th to decide who will be playing against who on All-Star night.