For decades, the NBA divvied up its players who were voted into its All-Star game by conference. But that changed in the 2017-18 season when it decided to make the leading vote-getters in each conference the captains of their respective teams and allow them to draft whomever they wanted onto their squads.
Under this current format, LeBron James has been an All-Star captain each season, and that streak remains intact, as the Lakers superstar was named a captain for this year’s midseason classic, which will be played in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The other captain will be Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.
In being named one of the game’s captains, James has officially received his 19th All-Star selection, which tied Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in league history.
NBA record-tying 19th All-Star selection 👑@KingJames is a #NBAAllStar captain! pic.twitter.com/nyv4TWwLGa
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 27, 2023
Under this format, James is currently undefeated as a captain.
Unlike the last five years, the draft for the All-Star game will be televised live just prior to the game itself on Feb. 19.
According to a press release by the NBA on Thursday, James finished as the leading vote-getter among all players with 7,418,116 votes.
