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TNT analysts and basketball greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith drafted the teams on Friday for the All-Star Game set to happen on Feb.16
LeBron James was picked first in the 2025 NBA All-Star draft (AP)
The 10 players designated as starters were announced on Jan. 23, the remaining 14 players designated as reserves were revealed Thursday — and now, those 24 players will be drafted onto eight-player teams for the games that will be played on February 16 in San Francisco.
TNT analysts and basketball greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith drafted the teams on Friday.
Here’s how the three All-Star teams look after the draft:
| Team Chuck | Team Kenny | Team Shaq |
| Nikola Jokic (DEN) | Jalen Brunson (NYK) | LeBron James (LAL) |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) | Anthony Edwards (MIN) | Stephen Curry (GSW) |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | Darius Garland (CLE) | Kevin Durant (PHX) |
| Donovan Mitchell (CLE) | Cade Cunningham (DET) | James Harden (LAC) |
| Pascal Siakam (IND) | Jaren Jackson Jr. (MEM) | Anthony Davis (DAL) |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK) | Tyler Herro (MIA) | Damian Lillard (MIL) |
| Victor Wembanyama (SAS) | Evan Mobley (CLE) | Jayson Tatum (BOS) |
| Alperen Sengun (HOU) | Jalen Williams (OKC) | Jaylen Brown (BOS) |
The Rising Stars Game, which happens the Friday before the All-Star Game, will follow a similar format. Four teams comprised of the best rookies, sophomores and G-League players will compete, and the winner will be fourth team at the All-Star Game on Sunday.
The Rising Stars teams will be coached by former Warriors Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond and Jeremy Lin. Warriors players Trayce Jackson-Davis and Pat Spencer will be among those competing.
How the tournament works
The games will be fast. Games are to 40 points; first one to reach that total wins. The two semifinal winners will meet in the All-Star final, that game also goes only to 40 points.
How the tournament works
The Rising Stars event winner — that tournament will be held Feb. 14, another four-team event made up of first- and second-year players — will be the fourth team in the All-Star games on Feb. 16. That team will be called Team Candace, for Candace Parker.
Why the change
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has wanted a more competitive All-Star event for some time, and this change comes after the teams combined to score a record 397 points — 211-186 was the final — in last season’s game at Indianapolis.
The teams combined to take 289 shot attempts in last year’s game, 94% of those being either inside the paint or beyond the 3-point line.
Coaching staffs
Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers will coach one All-Star team, Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder will coach another, and two of their assistants — one from each team — will have the other teams under their direction.
Cleveland and Oklahoma City are sending their staffs to the game because those are the teams with the best records in the Eastern and Western Conferences.
Prize money
There is a prize pool of $1.8 million for the All-Star Game.
Each player on the All-Star champion team gets $125,000, each player on the runner-up team will get $50,000 and the players on the teams eliminated in the semifinals will each get $25,000.
(with agency inputs)
