The 41-year-old NBA icon, who has been named as an All-Star starters in every season since 2005, was the biggest omission from this year’s event, at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome on February 15.
The 10 starters named on Tuesday – five from the Western Conference and five from the Eastern Conference – will be joined by 14 players selected by the All-Star Game coaches.
The Western Conference starters include James’ Lakers team-mate Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder’s reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the San Antonio Spurs’ French prodigy Victor Wembanyama complete the West’s starters, chosen by a vote from fans, players and media.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo led the voting for the Eastern Conference starters. Antetokounmpo is joined by the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons ace Cade Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown.
While James will almost certainly be included in the additional pool of All-Star players, his failure to be named in the starting 10 in his 23rd season signals the end of an era.
James missed the opening 14 games of the season suffering from sciatica. Since his return he has averaged 22.6 points per game with 5.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists.
While the NBA has followed its traditional conference-based selection procedure, this year’s All-Star Game is again being revamped in a bid to revive interest. The centrepiece of the weekend will be a three-team round robin tournament with two teams of United States players and a World squad of global talent.
The tournament will consist of four 12-minute contests, with each team having a minimum of eight players.
Two teams would play in the first game, with the third team facing the winner of the opener, then the loser of the opener.
The championship game will match the top two teams based on records or point differential. (AFP)
