NBA All-Star game rosters to be picked on the night of the matchup

The NBA all-star rosters will not be known until the night of the game on February 19.

The team captains, likely the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, will make their picks in a live televised pregame segment shortly before the game begins in Salt Lake City.

In fact, Durant once suggested the idea on a podcast appearance with boardroom television, and the league seems to have liked his idea.

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced the format change Tuesday night.

The LA Lakers’ LeBron James is likely to captain the NBA All-Star Game next month.

This will be the sixth time the league has used the format in which captains pick their teams, but in each of the first five instances, the rosters were selected several days before the game.

Captains and starters will be announced on Thursday.

James has been captain each of the first five years, and based on voting results released by the league late last week, it’s virtually certain he will be captain again this year. The leader in votes from the Eastern and Western Conference wins the right to be captain.

Durant was the early leader among East players, then trailed slightly behind Antetokounmpo in the most recent vote. He is still expected to be selected as the starter, and it won’t be known until Thursday if he regained the lead in the Eastern voting in recent days.

All star team captains will now choose their teammates immediately before the game is played.

The ballots to decide the incumbents were due to be presented on Saturday.

“I want to play,” Durant told reporters in New York on Tuesday. ‘I want to be a part of all these events.’

James’ teams are 5-0 in All-Star games when he’s captain.

Durant has captained as the East’s election leader in each of the past two years. Antetokounmpo was in the previous two years, 2019 and 2020.

The top three forward line players and top two shooting guards from each conference will be chosen as starters, with the top vote-getters from each conference acting as captains and choosing their teams.

Fan voting accounts for 50 percent of headline voting, a media ballot counts 25 percent, and ballots turned in by NBA players count the other 25 percent.

The reserves, chosen by NBA coaches, seven players from each conference, will be announced on February 2.

Kevin Durant recently suggested the idea in a podcast appearance, and it has since come to fruition.