NBA All-Star Game Rosters: Reserves Revealed For East And West NBA All-Star Teams [Breaking]
NBA All-Star Game news now includes the 14 reserves from the East and West. The 2016 NBA All-Star reserves include a lot of familiar names to the game, with some very noticeable snubs as well. A report from CBS Sports states that the All-Star reserves in the Eastern Conference are Paul Millsap, Chris Bosh, Jimmy Butler, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, Andre Drummond, and DeMar DeRozan. This is the 11th-straight All-Star Game for Bosh.
In the Western Conference, the seven reserves are Draymond Green, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, James Harden, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Thompson and Green join Stephen Curry as three All-Star players representing the Golden State Warriors. The only other two teams with multiple players in the West are the Oklahoma City Thunder, as Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were named starters for the big game and the San Antonio Spurs with Kawhi Leonard and Aldridge.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the newly announced NBA All-Star Game reserves join the 10 starters placed on the team by fans. The Western Conference starters are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs, and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. How the West coaches will construct a starting five out of that group of playmakers will be exciting on offense and problematic on defense.
The five Eastern Conference starters are LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. The starters on each team were voted in by the fans this year again. There are just two duos on the East team, consisting of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh from the Heat and Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors.
Currently, LeBron James is the only member of the Cleveland Cavaliers to make the All-Star team, meaning point guard Kyrie Irving and power forward Kevin Love may miss the game this year. Both Irving and Love have made many All-Star teams before this, but with Love having a down season and Irving injured for a lot of games, James may be the only player representing the Cavs. New Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has been placed in charge of the Eastern Conference team though. Those aren’t the only perceived snubs this season.
The 2016 NBA All-Star reserves are also missing Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, Pau Gasol of the Chicago Bulls, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets, Rajon Rondo of the Sacramento Kings, and Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. These players could be used as injury replacements if one of the first 24 players are unable to play in the game. Having Kobe Bryant on the team takes up a spot for a more deserving player (statistically), but the fans wanted Bryant as one of the starters this year. There are currently no injuries to report.
The 2016 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, February 14. The All-Star weekend begins on Friday, February 12, and it will include the celebrity game, the slam dunk competition, the skills competition, and the three-point shootout. The participants in those events have not yet been revealed, but the NBA will likely do that over the next week. They will also announce the rosters for the rookie game and what format the teams will use this year. Until the big day, NBA fans can now debate the 2016 All-Star reserves and which players deserved to be a part of the rosters.
[Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images]
