It was expected, it’s now official. Victor Wembanyama is not among the starters for the next All-Star Game on February 18 in Indianapolis. The French rookie is not in the list communicated Thursday by the NBA, for which the vote of fans counted at 50%, that of players 25% and that of specialized media 25%.
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks) are also among the main absentees for the moment, with the stars of the Los Angeles Clippers (Paul George, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard) or the players of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards), yet co-leaders in the West.
However, everything is not over for the Spurs giant and his “forgotten” colleagues, who can still be chosen among the replacements by the coaches of the 30 NBA franchises, who will unveil the completed selection on February 2. “Wemby” has already announced its participation in the “skills challenge”, an All-Star weekend skill competition, held on February 17.
20 selections out of 21 possible
In the Western Conference team, LeBron James is celebrating his 20th selection for the All-Star Game in 21 NBA seasons at 39 years old. The Los Angeles Lakers big name improves the record he co-held with another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He leads a major five where he is joined by Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), the Serbian Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), the Slovenian Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and the Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, leader of the surprising Oklahoma team City, co-leader of the Western Conference.
In the East, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo will play with his teammate at the Milwaukee Bucks Damian Lillard, the 2023 Cameroonian MVP Joel Embiid (Philadelphia Sixers), Jayson Tatum (representative of the Boston Celtics, best team of the season) and Tyrese Haliburton, leader of the Indiana Pacers, who will have the honor of playing the All-Star game at home.