In the midst of the Bucks’ tilt against the Atlanta Hawks, Shams Charania of ESPN reported the full Eastern Conference starting five for the NBA All-Star Game next month in Los Angeles. Giannis was named a starter along with the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham, the 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey, and the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown. The selection nets Giannis his 10th straight All-Star season dating back to 2016–17. Giannis is currently averaging 28.8 pPPG, 9.5 RPG, 5.5 APG, and is shooting 64.7%
from the field.
This also continues Giannis’ All-Star starting streak, as he’s been voted a starter every time he’s been selected. The five starters from each conference were determined by fan voting (50%), NBA coaches (25%), and a media panel (25%). Giannis continued to lead the East in fan voting, earning 2.1 votes as of January 6th when the NBA announced its second round of voting. Luka Doncic of the Lakers led all players with 2.2 million votes.
The All-Star game format is going to look a little different than last year, with the rising stars team cut from the tournament. There will be three teams this go-around: two US teams and an international team (which will obviously include Giannis), known as Team World. There will be a round-robin tournament, with four 12-minute games at the Intuit Dome.
