NBA All-Star Game 2013: When and Where to Catch Starting Lineup Announcement

Voting is finished for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game—an event that will take place on Sunday, February 17 at 8 p.m. ET—but you aren’t going to want to miss the special announcement to find out which players the fans selected to start and who was snubbed from the roster.

While we have a decent idea of who is going to be slotted into the starting lineup—due to the NBA releasing periodic returns during the voting process—there’s still some excitement hanging in the air for the broadcast.

Let’s take a look at when to watch this event, which channel to catch it on, make some projections for the starting five and much more.

When: Thursday, January 17 at 7 p.m. ET

Watch: TNT

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith

 

Projected Starting Lineups

EASTERN CONFERENCE

PG: Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics

SG: Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

SF: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks

PF: LeBron James, Miami Heat

C: Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics

WESTERN CONFERENCE

PG: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

SG: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

SF: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

PF: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers

C: Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers

This is the first year that the NBA has done away with the “center” position and is instead using a simple system of frontcourt and backcourt players.

It’s largely for the best, as big men like KG have been playing the 5 but been listed as a 4 for years.  Now the Big Ticket can be rewarded with a starting “frontcourt” spot and should join the All-Star Game’s lineup in his 18th season.

While the Western Conference lineup is Los Angeles-heavy—not a surprise considering this is basically a popularity contest—these players from that city actually deserve the accolades and should be starters in Houston next month.

Now let’s take a peek at the polls and see if there’s a chance for any upsets.

Leading Vote Getters After Third Returns (courtesy of NBA.com on Jan. 3)

*BC = Backcourt (PG and SG), FC = Frontcourt (SF, PF and C)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Player	Team	Position	Votes
LeBron James	Miami Heat	FC	1,151,304
Carmelo Anthony	New York Knicks	FC	1,054,099
Dwyane Wade	Miami Heat	BC	765,077
Rajon Rondo	Boston Celtics	BC	675,822
Kevin Garnett	Boston Celtics	FC	390,751
Chris Bosh	Miami Heat	FC	362,973
Deron Williams	Brooklyn Nets	BC	350,618
Tyson Chandler	New York Knicks	FC	315,752
Kyrie Irving	Cleveland Cavaliers	BC	308,878

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Player	Team	Position	Votes
Kobe Bryant	Los Angeles Lakers	BC	1,777,456
Kevin Durant	Oklahoma City Thunder	FC	1,088,797
Dwight Howard	Los Angeles Lakers	FC	716,671
Chris Paul	Los Angeles Clippers	BC	651,893
Jeremy Lin	Houston Rockets	BC	605,624
Blake Griffin	Los Angeles Clippers	FC	593,024
Tim Duncan	San Antonio Spurs	FC	352,534
James Harden	Houston Rockets	BC	337,585
Russell Westbrook	Oklahoma City Thunder	BC	268,558

It seems that Chris Bosh has a small chance of overtaking KG for the final frontcourt spot in the East, and Jeremy Lin can make a run at CP3’s backcourt position with a late surge of votes.

Aside from that, it seems every other potential starter has a commanding lead and, barring a miracle, should feel safe going into Thursday night’s announcement.

This is going to be a solid All-Star cast and we expect the coaches will do a great job rounding out the remainder of the rosters once the fans have spoken.