NBA All-Star Weekend is here, and as always, the All-Star Game will cap off the events on Sunday night. LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo are team captains for the second consecutive season, and last week those two selected their All-Star rosters via draft. James picked first as the leading overall vote-getter, and to almost no one's surprise, he selected his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis. With his own first choice, Antetokounmpo went with his Eastern Conference rival, Joel Embiid of the 76ers.
It should be noted that this year's All-Star Game, scheduled for Feb. 16, will take on significant format changes when it comes to game play, and will also feature various tributes to Kobe Bryant. The changes are as follows:
- The score will be reset to 0-0 after the first and second quarters.
- The winners of the first, second and third quarters will receive $100,000 per quarter to donate to a Chicago-based charity of the captain's choice.
- At the end of the third quarter, the total scores from each quarter will be combined, as it would be in a typical game.
- The fourth quarter will not be timed. Instead, a target score will be set by adding 24 points (Bryant's old uniform number) to the total of whichever team has the lead through three quarters (i.e, if the team with the lead has 100 points, the target score would be 124). The first team to reach that target would win the game.
- The winning team will receive another $200,000 to donate to charity, bringing the total up to $500,000.
With the details out of the way, here's everything you need to know about the '20 All-Star Game in Chicago.
How To Watch NBA All-Star Game
- When: Sunday, Feb. 16, 8 p.m. ET
- Where: United Center -- Chicago, Illinois
- TV: TNT I Streaming: FuboTV (try for free)
- Odds: Team LeBron -6.5, O/U 306
Rosters
Team LeBron:
Starters:
Reserves:
- Damian Lillard (injured and will not play)
- Ben Simmons
- Nikola Jokic
- Jayson Tatum
- Chris Paul
- Russell Westbrook
- Domantas Sabonis
- Devin Booker (injury replacement)
Team Giannis:
Starters:
Reserves:
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Storylines
Team LeBron: James has captained his team three years in a row, and his group won both of the times that he has drafted in the past. This year, his roster consists of some of the most exciting talent in the entire league. It will be interesting to see L.A. rivals James and Kawhi Leonard coexist on the same squad. It will also be cool to see James running alongside reigning Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic, as they are two of the most dynamic playmakers that the league has seen in recent memory.
Team Giannis: James and Antetokounmpo are going head-to-head as captains for the second consecutive season. Last season, James proved to be a bit better of a general manager than his Eastern Conference counterpart as his team beat Team Giannis 178-164 thanks largely to a big fourth quarter run. Antetokounmpo is notoriously competitive, so it's safe to say that he will be seeking his revenge this time around.
Game prediction, pick
While the nature of the All-Star Game itself prevents rosters from looking too one-sided, James' team stands out on paper. He and Anthony Davis already have great chemistry from their time together in Los Angeles, and around them are the reigning Rookie of the Year in Luka Doncic, the reigning Finals MVP in Kawhi Leonard and the league's leading scorer in James Harden. That's a crazy collection of talent. While Antetokounmpo's starting unit – Embiid, Siakam, Walker, and Young -- is still solid, it lacks the experience and dominant perimeter play that James' roster boasts. The reserves appear to be pretty evenly matched, so the disparity in talent between the starting sets could ultimately prove to be the difference in the game. Pick: Team LeBron