NEW YORK – Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey and his staff will coach Team LeBron in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 18 in Los Angeles (8 p.m. ET).

Casey becomes the Raptors’ first All-Star Game head coach.  He earned the honor for the first time in his nine seasons as an NBA head coach.

With tonight’s 123-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Raptors (33-15, .688) clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference through games played on Sunday, Feb. 4 among the 14 conference teams with a head coach eligible for the 2018 All-Star Game.  Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was ineligible because he coached the East in last year’s All-Star Game.

Under a new All-Star Game format that replaces the traditional matchup between conferences, each All-Star Game coach will lead the team that includes the captain from the same conference.  Casey and his staff will coach the All-Star team that features the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James as captain.

Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni and his staff previously earned the spot to coach Team Stephen, captained by the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry.  Casey will coach against Toronto’s two All-Star selections, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, both drafted to Team Stephen.

Casey is the Raptors’ longest-tenured and winningest coach (294-230, .561).  He guided Toronto to the playoffs in each of the previous four seasons – the four winningest seasons in franchise history.  Casey has a career coaching record of 347-299 (.537) over seven seasons with the Raptors and two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 67^th NBA All-Star Game will air on TNT and ESPN Radio.  The game will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.