2018 NBA All-Star Game Starters Review
The 2018 NBA All-Star Game will be hosted in Los Angeles, California and is right around the corner. The starters are set and we wait now on the leading vote-getter from the Eastern Conference, LeBron James, and the leading vote-getter from the Western conference Steph Curry to select their players from the group of starters. With the new All-Star Game format, we will no longer see East vs. West competition. It is now the leading vote-getters from the two conferences who get to select from a group of starters and reserves.
The people have now spoken and we now know who will be starting but not who is going to be on whose team. The starters selected from the Western Conference are Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, James Harden, and Kevin Durant. The starters selected from the Eastern Conference are Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Giannis Antekounmpo, and Kyrie Irving. And as stated earlier our captains of LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
There is a little surprise to see who is starting and who is not starting on this year’s All-Star Game. Demarcus Cousins comes as a surprise starter with the profile he has on the basketball court. You would expect a friendlier crowd pleaser in his position. Someone like another former Kentucky Wildcat Karl-Anthony Towns sounds like he would be thought of more of a starter over Demarcus Cousins, but maybe because Cousins averages five more points than Towns the fans believe he’s earned it. Another surprise starter this year is big man Joel Embiid. Embiid has a very large fan base as everyone knows which played a huge factor in him earning a spot as a starter. Also whenever he is on the court he is an impact player for the Philadelphia 76ers. That is where the problem comes in although. When Joel Emiid is on the court! Embiid still seems to have problems from his injury-plagued past. Emiid is not able to play back to back games with the back problems he has. His injuries make you think how long he can play as dominant as he is now.
Without a doubt, the biggest surprise from players who are not starting is Russell Westbrook. For the second straight All-Star Game, we will see Stephen Curry starting over Russell Westbrook. This year there seems to be a bigger reason why, and it is because of the lack of success Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder have had this season. Though Russell is nearly averaging a triple-double this season the Thunder have not seen much success as a team. Therefore it is looking like there will not be a reunion between the former Oklahoma City Thunder big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook will definitely be select as an All-Star reserve. Much like the past years also we can expect Russell Westbrook to outplay anyone who is starting over him.
You can catch the star-studded NBA All-Star Game on February 18th at 6 PM EST on TNT.
