So boom, the NBA All-Star rosters were revealed Thursday Night and now we know who's playing with who in the All-Star game. LeBron and Steph were captains and they held a conference call with the league to select teams. Honestly, we the fans would have loved nothing more than to see the draft televised. It would have been a spectacle just because of the relationships between NBA players and their respective teams. Would Steph be able to take all 3 of his teammates? Would LeBron pick up Kyrie? Who takes Westbrook, and does he end up teamed with Kevin Durant? We finally got our answers.
If I had to describe Team LeBron I'd go with "Chemistry 101". LeBron is too good at this general manager life. Don't believe it, look at the starting 5. There's LeBron, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Boogie and Kyrie Irving. He picked up Boogie and Anthony Davis, probably the two best big men in the game, and current teammates in New Orleans. Perhaps the biggest name on LeBron's team besides himself is Kevin Durant. KD is obviously a Warrior, and LeBron picked him first according to Kevin, who said "what you think?" when asked if he was LeBron's #1 pick. He's gonna be playing with his former OKC running mate, and the reigning MVP, Russell Westbrook of the reserves. The team is rounded out by Kristaps Porzingis, Victor Oladipo, Bradley, Beal, John Wall, and Kevin Love.
Team Steph, otherwise known as "Analytics Darlings" are an interesting bunch and might be a tad underrated going into his games. The starters are Curry, James Harden, Demar DeRozan, Giannis, and Joel Embiid. The bench includes Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, and Karl Anthony Towns.
Now at first glance, many would give the edge to Lebron and friends. They are massive in the starting 5. Can you imagine a starting quintet, where Kyrie Irving is probably the 5th best player? To make matters worse, he's probably running the 2 at that. Everyone else is 6'8 and above, capable of switching everything and scoring from anywhere. They'd win the next 8 NBA championships.
But this is an All-Star game, and we know how well perimeter players dominate the All-Star game. That's why you can't count out Team Steph. They are just as full of talent, and most of all, shooting. Let's start with the captain, Wardell Curry. Arguably the greatest shooter ever, Curry is the head of the 3- point revolution in the NBA and his team reflects that style of play. His team consists of some the best snipers in the league in James Harden, Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry, and Damian Lillard.
Yes, that's plenty of guards, but they all shoot the 3 at an above-average clip. They're all capable of catching fire from the 3 and we're not even talking about guys like Towns and DeRozan who have flashed an improved stroke this season. And are we going to ignore the Greek Freak, who's probably the most difficult player in the league to guard, without a jumper? Team LeBron is gonna have its hands full dealing with him.
Another thing to account for is the defense, or lack thereof in an All-Star game. At best we could expect a competitive last 5 minutes, if the game is close. After all, the object of the new format was to increase competitiveness, or were we mislead? LeBron is on record saying he wants to win, and his team resembles an 'unbeatable monster'. Steph believes in the three-ball game and his team does too, it's produced championships; why wouldn't it work in pick-up basketball amongst excellent NBA talent?
If guys come to play and treat this game with the slightest interest, fans will be in for a great one. I'd give team LeBron the advantage, but I wouldn't count out the 2-time MVP's pool of talent either. There's sure to be some theatrics with the way guys are gonna be teaming up. Hopefully we'll get some Kyrie to LeBron alleys or some KD and Russ give and go. Maybe John Wall and Bradley Beal steal the show? Who knows? We just want to see the best players compete. I have Curry over KD for the game winner and Team Curry over Team LeBron 165-164.
As an aside, Paul George, Lou Willimas, Chris Paul and Andre Drummond, had serious cases for all-star inclusion, they just missed the cut due to superior talent at the position, and/or injuries.
