Cavaliers’ James and Irving, Warriors’ Durant and Curry selected to start NBA All-Star Game 2017
NEW YORK – LeBron James and Kyrie Irving of the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers and Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry of the league-leading Golden State Warriors headline the list of 10 players selected by fans, NBA players and media to start in the NBA All-Star Game 2017. James and Durant finished as the top vote-getters at their respective positions among all three voting groups.
In addition to James (frontcourt) and Irving (guard), the Eastern Conference starters include the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (frontcourt), the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler (frontcourt) and the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan (guard). In the Western Conference, Curry (guard) and Durant (frontcourt) are joined by the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis (frontcourt), the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (guard) and the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (frontcourt).
The Eastern Conference and Western Conference starting lineups for the 66th NBA All-Star Game were revealed tonight on TNT, which will also unveil the All-Star reserves on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. ET. The NBA All-Star Game is set for Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans and will be televised by TNT at 8 p.m. ET and broadcast by ESPN Radio.
Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the NBA All-Star Game starters, while current players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each. Fans cast more than 38 million votes during NBA All-Star Voting 2017 presented by Verizon, a 155% increase from the same time period last year. James was the leading vote-getter among fans with 1,893,751 votes, while Curry (1,848,121), Durant (1,768,185) and Irving (1,696,769) also had the highest fan totals in their respective position groups.
After all votes were tallied, players were ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference were named NBA All-Star Game starters.
Fan voting served as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score. DeRozan (796,112 fan votes) won the tiebreaker with the Boston Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas (755,102) for the second starting spot among East guards, while Curry (1,848,121) and Harden (1,771,375) won the tiebreaker with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (1,575,865) for the two starting spots among West guards.
Eastern Conference Starters
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: A first-time All-Star, the 22-year-old is the first Milwaukee player selected to the All-Star Game since Michael Redd during the 2003-04 season.
- Jimmy Butler, Bulls: Butler has been selected to his third straight All-Star Game and third overall.
- DeMar DeRozan, Raptors: Toronto’s all-time leading scorer is headed to his third All-Star Game and second in a row.
- Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers: The 2014 All-Star Game MVP is an All-Star for the fourth time in six seasons.
- LeBron James, Cavaliers: The leading scorer in All-Star Game history (291 points), James has earned his 13th All-Star nod (all consecutive and all starts) in 14 seasons. The four-time Kia NBA MVP is set to become the fifth player in league history to start at least 13 All-Star Games, joining Kobe Bryant (15), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (13), Bob Cousy (13) and Michael Jordan (13).
Western Conference Starters
- Stephen Curry, Warriors: The two-time reigning Kia NBA MVP has made the All-Star team for the fourth consecutive time and the fourth time overall, all as a starter.
- Anthony Davis, Pelicans: Davis has been named an All-Star for the fourth time (2014-17), matching Chris Paul for the most selections in New Orleans franchise history.
- Kevin Durant, Warriors: Now an eight-time All-Star selection (every season since 2009-10), Durant owns the highest scoring average in All-Star Game history (25.6 ppg).
- James Harden, Rockets: Harden’s five All-Star selections have all come in his five seasons with Houston.
- Kawhi Leonard, Spurs: The two-time reigning Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year is a starter for the second year in a row after making his All-Star debut last season.
Below are the overall scores – based on results from all three voting groups – for the top finishers at each position. Each player’s score is weighted based on 50% for fan vote, 25% for players vote and 25% for media vote. The formula to determine a player’s score is (Fan Rank * 2 + Player Rank + Media Rank)/4. For a list of media voters and complete voting results, please visit NBA.com/official.
Eastern Conference Frontcourt
| Player | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *LeBron James (Cleveland) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 2. *Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.0 |
| 3. *Jimmy Butler (Chicago) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4.0 |
| 4. Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4.75 |
| 5. Kevin Love (Cleveland) | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 6. Kristaps Porzingis (New York) | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6.25 |
| 7. Paul George (Indiana) | 8 | 4 | 8 | 7.0 |
| 8. Carmelo Anthony (New York) | 6 | 6 | 12 | 7.5 |
| 9. Jabari Parker (Milwaukee) | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10.5 |
| 10. Hassan Whiteside (Miami) | 11 | 14 | 8 | 11.0 |
Eastern Conference Guards
| Player | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *Kyrie Irving (Cleveland) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1.5 |
| 2. *DeMar DeRozan (Toronto) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.75^ |
| 3. Isaiah Thomas (Boston) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2.75^ |
| 4. Dwyane Wade (Chicago) | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4.0 |
| 5. Kyle Lowry (Toronto) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 6. John Wall (Washington) | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5.75 |
| 7. Derrick Rose (New York) | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7.25 |
| 8. Kemba Walker (Charlotte) | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7.75 |
| 9. Avery Bradley (Boston) | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10.0 |
| 10. Bradley Beal (Washington) | 14 | 8 | 8 | 11.0 |
*–Voted to start
^–Tiebreaker for starting spot is highest fan vote
Western Conference Frontcourt
| Player | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *Kevin Durant (Golden State) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 2. *Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 3. *Anthony Davis (New Orleans) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 |
| 4. DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento) | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5.0 |
| 5. Draymond Green (Golden State) | 5 | 9 | 6 | 6.25 |
| 6. Zaza Pachulia (Golden State) | 2 | 12 | 10 | 6.5 |
| 7. Marc Gasol (Memphis) | 10 | 5 | 5 | 7.5 |
| 8. Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota) | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7.75 |
| 9. LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio) | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8.0 |
| 10. DeAndre Jordan (LA Clippers) | 11 | 7 | 8 | 9.25 |
Western Conference Guards
| Player | Fan Rank | Player Rank | Media Rank | Weighted Score |
| 1. *Stephen Curry (Golden State) | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2.0^ |
| 2. *James Harden (Houston) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.0^ |
| 3. Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.0^ |
| 4. Klay Thompson (Golden State) | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5.0 |
| 5. Chris Paul (LA Clippers) | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5.0 |
| 6. Damian Lillard (Portland) | 8 | 4 | 6 | 6.5 |
| 7. Eric Gordon (Houston) | 7 | 15 | 6 | 8.75 |
| 8. CJ McCollum (Portland) | 16 | 5 | 6 | 10.75 |
| 9. Andre Iguodala (Golden State) | 9 | 22 | 6 | 11.5 |
| 10. Manu Ginobili (San Antonio) | 10 | 20 | 6 | 11.5 |
*–Voted to start
^– Tiebreaker for starting spots is highest fan vote
About NBA All-Star 2017
NBA All-Star 2017 in New Orleans will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game. The 66th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center, will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 15th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 32nd year of NBA All-Star coverage. Smoothie King Center will also host the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 17 and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 18. The NBA All-Star Practice, NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.