Watch LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo pick their All-Star squads live on Sky Sports from midnight on February 7
Friday 31 January 2020 06:56, UK
Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook lead the reserve selections for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
Point guards Paul and Westbrook were traded for one another in July, and both are now All-Stars with their new teams.
The NBA announced the All-Star reserves on Thursday night, and Paul, now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, was selected for the 10th time while Westbrook of the Houston Rockets was chosen for the ninth occasion.
Westbrook's first eight selections came for the Thunder, but the organisation shipped him to the Rockets for Paul and a slew of draft picks as part of their rebuilding plan after dealing forward Paul George to the LA Clippers.
Westbrook was the All-Star Game MVP in both 2015 and 2016. Paul is an All-Star for the first time since 2016. He won All-Star MVP honours in 2013.
Paul and Westbrook were among four Western Conference guards named as reserves in balloting by the NBA's 30 head coaches. The All-Star Game takes place on February 16 in Chicago.
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was chosen for the fifth time, and Utah Jazz shooting guard Donovan Mitchell earned his first selection.
Two Eastern Conference guards were selected, with Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry being named for the sixth time and Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons being chosen for the second time.
The frontcourt reserves from Eastern Conference teams are the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo (first selection) and Jimmy Butler (fifth), the Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton (second), the Indiana Pacers' Domantas Sabonis (first) and the Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (first).
The frontcourt reserves selected from Western Conference teams are Rudy Gobert (first selection) of the Utah Jazz, Brandon Ingram (first) of the New Orleans Pelicans and Nikola Jokic (second) of the Denver Nuggets.
The starters were announced on January 23 with LeBron James (16th selection) of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo (fourth) of the Bucks named captains.
The Team LeBron vs Team Giannis matchup will include a televised draft on February 6, live on Sky Sports, in which James and Antetokounmpo will select their teams, regardless of conference affiliation.
The other starters from Western Conference teams are Lakers power forward Anthony Davis (seventh selection), Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (fourth), Rockets guard James Harden (eighth) and first-time All-Star guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
In addition to Antetokounmpo, the other starters from Eastern Conference squads are 76ers center Joel Embiid (third), Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (first), Celtics guard Kemba Walker (fourth) and Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young (first).
Lakers coach Frank Vogel will coach Team LeBron while the coach for Team Giannis will be the leader of the team that has the second-best record in the East through games of Sunday.
The Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the East, but coach Mike Budenholzer is ineligible to be the selection because he was the coach last season. The Raptors - coached by Nick Nurse - have the second-best record entering games of Friday.
Among the players passed over for the All-Star Game were Western Conference guards Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns) and DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio Spurs) as well as Eastern Conference guards Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Derrick Rose (Detroit Pistons) and Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls) and center Andre Drummond (Pistons).
