SHOWS: CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 16, 2019)(NBA ENTERTAINMENT - ACCESS ALL) 1.

INTERIOR SPECTRUM CENTER - SITE OF NBA ALL-STAR GAME - LEBRON JAMES (CAPTAIN OF TEAM LEBRON) SPEAKING TO REPORTERS 2.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) LEBRON JAMES SAYING: "To be able to start and, you know, be recognized as one of the best players in this league, it means a lot, I mean these are the fans that voted me in as an All-Star starter, you guys had a lot to do with it, as the media." 3.

KEVIN DURANT (TEAM LEBRON) SPEAKING TO REPORTERS 4.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) KEVIN DURANT SAYING: "The greatest player?

I don't believe that I'm better than anyone but I don't believe that no one's better than me...and I think that's how a lot of people feel." 5.

NIKOLA JOKIC (TEAM GIANNIS) SPEAKING TO REPORTERS 6.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) NIKOLA JOKIC SAYING: "It means a lot, I mean not just for my country (Serbia), my hometown, my family, that's something that I put behind me, you know my legacy, I'm gonna remember this my whole life and hopefully my kids and my family gonna remember too." 7.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) LEBRON JAMES SAYING: "I love my fans in China, first of all, nihao (hello in Chinese), and everytime I go to China they've always respected me and welcomed me with open arms, I've been all over China, you know either playing basketball, promoting the game of basketball, this summer I had my more than an athlete tour where I try to inspire a lot of kids as well to be not only, you know, basketball players, but more than that, so I've always loved being a part of China and going there and seeing the fans, they've always been ecstatic everytime I've come there so thank you." 8.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) NIKOLA JOKIC SAYING: "It means a lot because, just because you said I had really good two years and I just said to myself I need to get better, I need to put the Denver Nuggets higher in the standings so, that was my kind of goal and I think that helped me, as long as my teammates and team are high I'm gonna be in the (All-Star) game so." STORY: Despite this being his 15th appearance in the NBA's midseason showcase LeBron James said he still enjoys being voted to start in the All-Star Game.

Speaking to reporters Saturday (February 16) at media day, the captain of Team LeBron said being recognized by the fans as one of the best players in the NBA still meant something to the three time NBA champion.

The league changed the All-Star Game format last year from eastern conference versus western conference to having two captains pick from the pool of all-stars with Giannis Antetokuonmpo being named the other captain.

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard will start alongside James on Team LeBron while Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Kemba Walker will start with Antetokuonmpo on Team Giannis.

Team LeBron reserves include Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, LaMarcus Aldridge, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal, and Dwyane Wade.

The Team Giannis bench is comprised of Khris Middleton, Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, D'Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Kyle Lowry, and Dirk Nowitzki.