Stephen Curry and LeBron James Reveal All-Star Rosters

By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN

Stephen Curry of the Warriors and LeBron James of the Cavaliers have faced off in N.B.A. Finals in three consecutive seasons. Thursday’s All-Star draft had decidedly lower stakes. Pool photo by Ron Schwane

It did not come with the excitement — or awkwardness — of a full public audience, but team captains LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors completed the N.B.A.’s 2018 All-Star draft on Thursday.

James and Curry, who were named captains by virtue of receiving the most votes in their respective conferences, took to Twitter after the results of the draft were announced on TNT to acknowledge that it would have been more fun to select the teams on television. That concept was scuttled for this year’s game because of opposition in the player’s union.

The format of the draft required that the captains select starting lineups from the pool of eight starters as determined through a combination of voting by fans, players and the news media.

The order of those picks was not revealed, but James picked first and ended up with an intriguing starting lineup that includes both his former teammate, Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics, and Curry’s current teammate, Kevin Durant. The other two starters with James are Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins of the New Orleans Pelicans. Irving is the only starter on James’s roster shorter than 6 feet 8 inches.

Curry ended up with a starting lineup that includes his Western Conference rival, James Harden of the Houston Rockets. Curry and Harden are joined by a third guard, DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors, as well as a frontcourt of Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

After the starters were selected, the captains could pick anyone from the remaining pool of 14 players.

James’s reserves include his teammate Kevin Love, as well as LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs, Bradley Beal and John Wall of the Washington Wizards, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers and Kristaps Porzingis of the Knicks.

Curry’s reserves include his teammates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, as well as Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Al Horford of the Celtics, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and Kyle Lowry of the Raptors.

The All-Star game will be held on Feb. 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.