2025 NBA All-Star Game reserves named

Sports

ALL is set for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game as 14 players, seven each from the Eastern and Western Conference, have been selected by the league’s head coaches as reserves for the mid-season spectacle slated February 17 (Philippine time) at the Chase Center in San Francisco California.

The selection of the All-Star Game reserves saw each NcBA head coach vote for seven players in his conference – two guards, three frontcourt players and two additional players at any position. The head coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.

Should a player fail to participate in the All-Star Game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will select the replacement.

The Eastern Conference reserves are Damian Lillard, of the Milwaukee Bucks; Darius Garland and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers; Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics; Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons; Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat, and Pascal Siakam of the Indiana Pacers.

The Western Conference reserves are Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves; Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers; James Harden of the LA Clippers; Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies; Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets; Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder; and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.

The starters of the two All-Star teams have been previously announced.

The East starters are Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks; Donovan Mitchell of Cleveland; Jayson Tatum of Boston; and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee.

The West starting five include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma; Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors; Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets; Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns; and LeBron James of the Lakers.

The All-Star Game will be featuring a new format.

For the first time, the NBA All-Star Game will feature a mini-tournament with four teams and three games. Two teams will meet in one semifinal (Game 1), and the remaining two teams will meet in the other semifinal (Game 2). The winning teams from Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to face each other in the championship (Game 3). For each game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points.

Each team will have eight players and be named for a TNT NBA analyst. The 24 NBA All-Star selections will be divided evenly into three teams, with the rosters drafted by TNT’s Inside the NBA commentators and honorary team general managers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. The three analysts will make their respective picks for Team Chuck, Team Shaq and Team Kenny live on TNT in the NBA All-Star Draft, which will be conducted on Thursday, Feb. 6 just before the network’s doubleheader that night.

The fourth team will be the winning team from the championship game of the Castrol Rising Stars, the annual showcase of top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts, which will be played on Feb. 14 during NBA All-Star 2025. TNT analyst and WNBA legend Candace Parker will serve as honorary GM of the Rising Stars champion, known as Team Candace.

The five players honored as starters in each conference will be selected by fans (50% of the vote), current NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%). The seven players honored as reserves in each conference will be selected by NBA head coaches.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the championship-winning team will receive $125,000, each player on the second-place team will receive $50,000 and each player on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.(CCM)