For the fifth straight year, LeBron James has been named captain for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, providing a fitting return to his hometown. After starting the voting process a distant fourth and behind Steph Curry for Western Conference captain, James leapfrogged the rest of the field to become the league’s top vote-getter.
Since the NBA changed the format to include All-Star game captains and a draft before the 2018 exhibition contest, James has been voted team captain every year. Twice he faced Giannis Antetokounmpo, and once each against Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. This season, he will renew his rivalry with Durant for the second consecutive season. Durant, however, is again expected to sit out the match due to injury.
This is James’ 18th All-Star Game selection overall and the first time he will play for Cleveland in the All-Star Game, as he returns to Ohio after a 25-year hiatus.
With all 30 NBA coaches voting for reserves in every conference, James will almost certainly be the only Laker to make the All-Star Game due to Anthony Davis’ injury which sidelined him for much of the month. .
The new All-Star game format produced many memorable moments during the draft. Last year, James and Durant memorably and hilariously left the two Utah Jazz All-Stars – Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert – as the bottom two players on the board. It was a change of pace for James, who spent the 2019 draft outright tampering with signing future free agents in Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Despite all the jokes, James is also undefeated when drafting a team as captain, a feather in his LeGM cap. This season should introduce a number of new players that James can falsify draft, with young stars like Ja Morant (and potentially LaMelo Ball) set to make their first All-Star matches.
It’s never too early to start tampering, and James could lay the groundwork for the Lakers’ free agency meetings in 2024. Tampering jokes aside, though, James being named All-Star captain is only another example of how amazing he is still performing at this level at 37 years old. As disappointing as this year has often been for the team, it should never be taken for granted.
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