{"id":36867,"date":"2021-01-29T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=36867"},"modified":"2021-01-28T20:59:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T01:59:32","slug":"2021-nba-all-star-game-early-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2021\/01\/29\/2021-nba-all-star-game-early-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 NBA All-Star Game: Early Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s unclear if the league will hold its annual 2021 NBA All-Star Game yet, but that won\u2019t stop the vote. All-Star fan voting has commenced and will conclude in mid-February. In conjunction with this announcement, the league still explained uncertainty over the event itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Discussions on a potential NBA All-Star game are ongoing, but players will be recognized as All-Stars this season even if there is not a game. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6koWfBoi7O\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/6koWfBoi7O<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1354489435413471232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With voting taking place no matter what decision is made, let\u2019s check out some early predictions for the 2021 NBA All-Star starting lineups. Although the fan ballots take up a percentage of this vote, this list will only consider player performance thus far. Just like the NBA selections, we picked three frontcourt players and two backcourt players and threw in some honorable mentions as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Predicting the 2021 NBA All-Star Game Rosters<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Western Conference Starters<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><strong>LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entering Wednesday night, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/lakers\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> are the best team in the NBA with a 14-4 record. Overall, Los Angeles improved the supporting cast, but this one still lies on the shoulders of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a><\/strong>. In his 18th and age-36 season, James is averaging 25.2 points, 7.4 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game. Yes, these numbers look ordinary for one of the greatest ever to play the game, but there\u2019s more. These numbers and team performance come in a year that his superstar counterpart, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a><\/strong>, has not found his groove yet. James is also shooting lights out from three-point range at 41.2 percent while attempting 6.6 three\u2019s per game. \u201cKing James\u201d adding the most consistent three-point shot of his career to his repertoire? That\u2019s scary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the middle-of-the-pack record for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/nuggets\/\" target=\"_self\">Denver Nuggets<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> <\/strong>has been tremendous. The 7-foot big is averaging close to a triple-double with points, rebounds, and assists. Simply unreal. Jokic puts up 25.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per game while converting better than 56 percent of his shots from the floor. Denver sits at 10-7 on the year, which slightly hurts Jokic\u2019s Most Valuable Player award hype, but he\u2019s a lock for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the offseason, there was major hype around <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a><\/strong> potentially putting together a Most Valuable Player award-winning season in year three. He\u2019s done just this, at least he should be in consideration. His usual monster numbers are even better this year, notching 27.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per night. Those rebounds and assists numbers would equal career-highs. He\u2019s carrying a heavy load for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/mavericks\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, who were without <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzingis<\/a> <\/strong>until recently.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a><\/strong> has been off to a ferocious start in his first 15 games. For one, he\u2019s played in 15 games of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/clippers\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>\u2019 total 18. The \u201cload management\u201d still exists, but seems toned down this year. Leonard averages 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and two steals each night. He\u2019s also shooting 41.9 percent from deep, marking the second-highest mark in his career so far. The Clippers are 13-5, sit third in the Western Conference, so things are looking good for Leonard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a> <\/strong>earns a starting spot on this conference as a perceived snub to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a><\/strong>, who earns honorable mention status. While George\u2019s numbers sit lower than Lillard&#8217;s, he\u2019s been more efficient and on a better team. Even after the NBA Bubble playoff collapse, George has come out swinging. The 30-year-old notches 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists on better than 50 percent shooting from the field, 48 percent from deep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Honorable Mentions: Damian Lillard, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willizi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zion Williamson\u00a0<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<h3><b>Eastern Conference Starters\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a><\/strong> suits up, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/76ers\/\" target=\"_self\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> tend to win. At least, that\u2019s how things have gone this year. Philadelphia is 12-2 with Embiid on the court, 0-4 without. The 26-year-old is the early favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award, and rightfully so. He ranks fifth in the league in scoring at 27.7 points per night, scoring on better than 55 percent of his shots. Add in 11.5 rebounds, which ranks top-10 in the league, and a league-best 31.2 PER.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s been no rust for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a><\/strong> to shake off this year. After missing all of last season, Durant ranks second in the NBA with 30.4 points per night. He\u2019s also putting up 7.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists while notching a 59.3 effective field-goal percentage. He\u2019s got two sidekicks now in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a><\/strong>, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/nets\/\" target=\"_self\">Brooklyn Nets<\/a> are very much his team. Brooklyn is +12.8 points per 100 possessions with Durant on the floor and -7.6 points per 100 when he isn\u2019t. Durant has quickly reminded us all who the second-best player in the NBA is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After losing his teammate <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walljo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Wall<\/a><\/strong> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/rockets\/\" target=\"_self\">Houston Rockets<\/a> ahead of this season, we weren\u2019t sure what to expect from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bealbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bradley Beal<\/a><\/strong>. His new sidekick, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a><\/strong>, hasn\u2019t been great and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/wizards\/\" target=\"_self\">Washington Wizards<\/a> are brutal to watch as a result. But, not for lack of effort from Beal. Beal leads the league in scoring at 34.4 points per night, shooting 48.3 percent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By his standards, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s 2021 numbers are down. But still, the reigning two-time Most Valuable Player is putting up 27 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 54 percent shooting per night. His effective field goal percentage sits close to 60 percent while adding 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks a night. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/bucks\/\" target=\"_self\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> are 10-6, but Antetokounmpo cares more about the playoffs than anything else right now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jaylen Brown, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/celtics\/\" target=\"_self\">Boston Celtics<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last season, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a> <\/strong>took a huge step forward in his fourth NBA season. This year, in his fifth season, that step got even bigger. Brown bumped his scoring average from a career-high 20.3 points per game to 27.3 this year. He\u2019s become a reliable third option to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkeke02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kemba Walker<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a><\/strong>. Hell, he\u2019s been better than both of them so far. Brown is also adding 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He\u2019s well on his way to an All-Star Game nod.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Honorable Mentions: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randlju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julius Randle<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavinza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach LaVine<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabondo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"Ov_XgM8TRuJAcDpaKIlE-A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1139874822\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Ov_XgM8TRuJAcDpaKIlE-A',sig:'UqT67NRTuS46TKIIFYdrHy0vWu66oMegnIFnHk-h00I=',w:'594px',h:'440px',items:'1139874822',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s unclear if the league will hold its annual 2021 NBA All-Star Game yet, but that won\u2019t stop the vote. All-Star fan voting has commenced and will conclude in mid-February. In conjunction with this announcement, the league still explained uncertainty over the event itself.\u00a0 Discussions on a potential NBA All-Star game are ongoing, but players [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3508,"featured_media":36869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608],"tags":[311,306,450,267,168,69,38,1133,96,2815,72,50],"class_list":["post-36867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","tag-bradley-beal","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-joel-embiid","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba","tag-nba-all-star-game","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-paul-george"],"modified_by":"Dylan Guest, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3508"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}