NBA All-Star Game 2023
The best of the best NBA players will gather in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend for NBA All-Star Weekend 2023. This comes at the halfway point in the season, and is a time to look back and evaluate the performances of the teams and players. It is also a time when, arguably, the most talented players in the league will team up and compete against each other.
The 72nd NBA All-Star Game will take place at Vivint Arena for the second time in history, 30 years after Salt Lake’s first time hosting in 1993. The entire weekend will give Salt Lake the opportunity to showcase their city and arena. Vivint Arena has been transformed to impress and allow for a stage and giant screens, located where seats behind one of the baskets are normally placed. The stage will be used to introduce players, a halftime concert by Burna Boy and Rema, and even a pregame concert by Post Malone﹘a Utah resident. The change in the arena will be a vast difference from the last time Salt Lake hosted the All-Star weekend.
The festivities will kick off with the NBA Rising Stars game and Celebrity game on Friday. The All-Star Practice will be on Saturday followed by the NBA HBCU Classic. Saturday will also be a chance for players to showcase their skills in the Skills Contest, 3-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest. On Sunday, the weekend will wrap up with the NBA G League Next Up Game and the All-Star game will conclude the star-studded weekend.
Unlike previous All-Star games, the roster has not yet been set. 30 minutes before tip-off, team captains﹘LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will select their teams in a draft format. During this draft, conference affiliation does not matter, allowing the captains to choose whichever players they want. Players in the starters pool were determined by votes: 50% fan vote, 25% media panel, and 25% current players. 14 reserves were selected by NBA coaches and will be the draftees in the pre-game roster determination. Coaches voted on players by position, each choosing 2 guards, 3 frontcourt players, and 2 players at any position in their conference. This year Team Giannis will be coached by Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics, and Team LeBron by Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets. This will be both Mazzulla and Malone’s first time as head coaches in the All-Star game. They were chosen as the coaches of the big game since they are the head coaches of the team with the best record in each conference.
Team LeBron’s starting line-up will include LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, Zion Williamson, Stephen Curry, and Luka Dončić. Due to injury, Williamson and Curry will not play, and will be replaced by Lauri Markkanen and Ja Morant. Team Antetokounmpo’s starting line-up will include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and Kyrie Iriving. Due to injury, Durant will not play, and will be replaced by Joel Embiid. The reserve pool players include, Paul George, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaren Jackson Jr, Damian Lilard, Lauri Markkanen, Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis, Bam Adebayo, Jaylen Brown, DeMar DeRozan, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Hailburton, Jrue Holiday, and Julius Randle. Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, and Pascal Siakam will serve as injury replacements. They will take the spots in the reserve pool that opened up due to injuries in the starting line-up.
This selection of reserves has, unsurprisingly, come with some criticism. It was inevitable people would feel that certain players got left out as only a finite number of players can be selected for the pool. While many players were snubbed from the Sunday night game in Salt Lake, the most noticeable ones missing from the reserved pool included Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia’s James Harden, and Atlanta’s Trae Young.
The format of the All-Star differs from a typical NBA game. At the beginning of each of the first three quarters, the score will be set 0-0, and the teams will compete for 12 minutes, like a normal game. The winner of each quarter will earn a sum of money that will go to their chosen Utah community-based organization. Team LeBron will be playing for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and Team Giannis will be playing for Raise the Future. At the end of the weekend, about $750,000 will be contributed to these two organizations. The fourth quarter is where some new components will come into play with the introduction of a target score, which will ultimately determine the winner of the 2023 All-Star Game. When the fourth quarter starts, the game clock will be turned off and a final target score will be set. This target score is determined by taking the leading team’s total cumulative score and adding 24, in honor of the late, great Kobe Bryant. The first team to reach this target will win the game.
Despite the All-Star game being played by the league’s very best on both ends of the court, offense is expected to shine, while defense takes a back seat. This has become the standard in recent All-Star games and is not expected to change, especially with this new target score being implemented. While there may be times where a player dedicates themselves to a strong defensive showing in a particular run of the game when their competitive juices are at a high, it will not be a consistent attitude throughout the game.
This will be the third time in the unconference format, which started in 2018, that Team LeBron will be taking on Team Giannis. Team LeBron is 2-0 and will be looking to continue this winning streak. Team LeBron is not only undefeated against Team Giannis, but is undefeated since this new format started, coming out on top against Team Stephen in 2018 and Team Durant in 2021 and 2022. Will this be the year Team LeBron finally goes down? Or will they once again be crowned champions?