On the weekend of February 16, the NBA All Star weekend will be held at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. This eventful weekend was originally intended to be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, but was pulled and replaced by the Staples Center, as the NBA felt the rules at the Spectrum center were discriminatory against LGBT individuals.

The highly anticipated weekend will be flooded with talent and celebrities from all over the country. The main attraction is the All star game, which is held on sunday night. The best twelve players from each the East and West conference are selected to play in this game. While this game used to pit the Eastern conference against the West, a new concept was introduced this year. The highest vote getters from each conference based on a fan-voting system running throughout the season, two captains are selected, one from the eastern conference, and one from the west. The Western Conference captian is Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. From the East is Cavaliers Forward LeBron James. These two will draft the 22 remaining players voted in by fans, players, and coaches.

First is Team Lebron, who is captained by Lebron James, a 14 time all star. The other four player that will round out his starting lineup are: Demarcus Cousins (4th selection, injured and will not play), Anthony Davis (5th Selection), Kevin Durant (9th selection), and James’s  former teammate Kyrie Irving (5th selection). His reserves include: Lamarcus Aldridge (6th selection), Bradley Beal (1st selection), Andre Drummond ( 2nd selection; replacing an injured Kevin Love), Paul George (5th selection; replacing an injured Demarcus Cousins), Kevin Love (5th selection; injured and will not play), Victor Oladipo (1st selection), Kristaps Porzingis (1st selection; injured and will not play), John Wall (5th selection; injured and will not play), Russell Westbrook (7th selection) and Goran Dragic (1st selection; replacing an injured John Wall).

Due to the fact that 4 players have been injured on team Lebron, the “Lebron Curse” has been created on the internet. This “curse” speculates that if you are on team Lebron, you have a high chance of getting injured. Of course this is just a myth, and just a conspiracy to pass time until something new comes about. But, before injuries, people had very high hopes about this all star team. Sophomore, Christian Kim, had this to say about the team before injuries, “Before injuries, they were winning easily. The fact that they had the best player in the world, Lebron James, helps them a lot and having the most recent All Star Mvps, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, will help as well.” Now, some are not as confident in the team. Another sophomore, Spencer Berson, thought a little differently, “This will have a large effect on their team because they are losing All Star veterans, like Demarcus Cousins, and replacing them with first time all star selections, like Goran Dragic.” This lack of experience will most certainly come into play during this upcoming all star game.

Next up is Team Curry, captained by five time all star, Stephen Curry. His starting lineup will be filled with: Giannis Antetokounmpo (2nd selection), Demar Derozan (4th selection), Joel Embiid (1st selection), and James Harden (5th selection). His bench includes: Jimmy Butler (4th selection), Draymond Green (3rd selection), Al Horford (5th selection), Damian Lillard (3rd selection), Kyle Lowry (4th selection), Klay Thompson (4th selection), Karl-Anthony Towns (1st selection).

Unlike Team Lebron, Team Curry has a lot of confidence going into all star weekend and has a healthy lineup. They have 3 mid season MVP candidates in Antetokounmpo, Harden and Curry. They have an overwhelming amount of talent on the team and a lot of experience, as they only have two players playing in their first all star game. Sophomore, Kyle Dipasupil, happens to be a fan of Team Curry and thinks very highly of them. In fact, he thinks, “Team Curry is the superior team, by far. Curry had a way better draft than Lebron and his team is way more versatile.” Due to a healthy team, Curry’s squad is a favorite going into the eventful weekend.  

This new game format will be an interesting experiment for the NBA. It brings new excitement to the competition, and a little more intensity in a game that historically lacks defensive effort. Tune in on Sunday, February 18th, at 8:00 p.m. to see Team Lebron face Team Curry. Where the 24 best players will go out there and prove their dominance.