The 2024-25 NBA All-Star starters were announced on Thursday, and they were predictable selections with Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant — the oldest of the old guard — all getting the nod in the Western Conference.
The East was an easier call, other than the LaMelo Ball dilemma. The overall voting pool got it right by rewarding Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell with the starting backcourt spots while leaving Ball, who earned the most fan votes among East guards, to fight for a reserve spot. Here are the full starting lineups, as determined by 50% fan votes and 25% each from media and current players:
Before we go any further, let’s remember that these “starter” designations are of no practical purpose given the change to the All-Star format this year, which will break the 24 All-Stars into three teams of eight (the winner of the Rising Stars game with be the fourth team) for a bracketed tournament or sorts.
This seems like a dumb idea, but the NBA is desperate to churn up any sort of competitive juice among the players to at least make the All-Star game(s) watchable. We’ll see if it works. But that’s another story. What we’re talking about is the naming of these starters as a matter of recognizing the 10 players — with the two-guard/three-frontcourt caveat, of course — who are having the best seasons.
Through that lens, the voters missed on a couple high-profile marks by naming Curry, James and Durant as starters over Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama, both of whom deserved the starter distinction. As noted, two guards have to be named in each conference, so that makes the first one of these debates sort of easy:
Edwards should be in over Curry
Yes, I understand the game is in San Francisco so we all get the concept and, to a certain degree, validity of a lifetime-achievement nod. It’s not like Curry isn’t having a good season, either. He is. He’s averaging 22 points per game on 40% 3-point shooting without a single other legitimate threat to occupy the defense’s attention.
It qualifies as borderline…
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