NBA All-Star Game 2022: Players Picked as Reserves Revealed

By Jess Smith First Posted: Feb 04, 2022 03:17 AM EST

With the playing status of 2022 All-Star Game captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant still in question, the NBA revealed Thursday the list of reserves from whom they will round out their rosters in next week's draft.

The league's coaches will designate seven players from each conference - two backcourt players, three frontcourt players, and two wild cards - to join the 10 starters revealed in Cleveland last week.

The league's 30 head coaches voted for the following list of east reserves: front Jimmy Butler of Miami Heat, guard James Harden (Brooklyn Nets), and Chicago Bulls' Zach LaVine as a forward.

Joining the three is the first in all-star selection's Fred VanVleet of Toronto Raptors, with Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics). The Cleveland Cavaliers had to settle for only player Guard Darius Garland in the game, which they will host.

As for the West Pool reserves, Devin Booker and Chris Paul were chosen, giving the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns two selections. Utah Jazz also got a pair with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

The other reserves from the Western Conference were Luka Doncic of Dallas Mavericks, Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves), and Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors).

The head coaches voted on the players from each conference, who could not vote for players from their own teams. Reserves will join the starters announced last week, completing the pool of All-Stars.

NBA Writers Pick Their East And West All-Star Reserves

As the reserves and starters announced, writers in the NBA website made their selections in each conference, choosing seven players from the West since it's already expected Kevin Durant will not be playing and selecting eight players from the East.

Senior writer Steve Aschburner said he likes his east roster's distribution - Ball, Butler, Garland, Harden, LaVine, Sabonis, Tatum, and VanVleet - as Chicago gets two All-Stars in DeMar DeRozan and LaVine, and the presence of Sabonis, whose 19-12-5 stats are "too strong to ignore."

Aschburner picks West reserves Doncic or Booker, saying that they can handle the "defensive demands" of an All-Star Game upfront, together with Gobert, Mitchell, Murray, Paul, and Towns.

NBA writer for NBA.com Mark Medina chose nine players for his East reserves and seven for the West. Medina said he considered Green more of a "worthy starter" compared to his teammate, Andrew Wiggins, as Medina revealed that Green had always been the main reason behind the Warriors' defensive excellence.

According to Shaun Powell, East's LaVine was his "worthy of starter consideration" and described Chris Paul as a "much like LeBron James," defying age by playing at a high level.

2022 NBA All-Star Game Starters

Last week, the league revealed the game's starters (two backcourt and three frontcourt players from each conference), based on voting by fans (50%), media (25%), and active players (25%) from Christmas to January 22.

The starter pool in the Eastern Conference included Kevin Durant, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid in the frontcourt, along with Chicago's DeMar DeRozan and Atlanta's Trae Young.

In the West, it's LeBron James, MVP Nikola Jokic of Denver, Memphis guard Ja Morant, and Golden State's Stephen Curry, and Andrew Wiggins.

The draft will take place on February 10. James will choose first from the pool of starters as the player who received the most total votes, while Durant has the first choice among reserves.

Meanwhile, LeBron James' swollen left knee and Kevin Durant's sprained left MCL could prevent them from playing in the All-Star Game.

Cleveland is scheduled to host the 2022 NBA All-Star Game on February 20.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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