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NBA All-Star Game 2020: Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis Rosters, Players to Watch
February 10, 2020
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will be a showcase of the sport's established superstars, like LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who are the two captains for the February 16 event in Chicago.
The exhibition also serves as a larger stage for the NBA's young breakout stars to showcase themselves to a broader audience.
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young is one of the first-time All-Stars participating in the game, and he is one of three who were voted in as starters.
Young was a draft pick of Antetokounmpo's, and he will start alongside Kemba Walker, Pascal Siakam and Joel Embiid.
James will be joined by Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Luka Doncic in the other starting lineup.
NBA All-Star Game Rosters
Players to Watch
LeBron James, SF, Los Angeles Lakers
Since the NBA went away from the conference-versus-conference All-Star format, James has won back-to-back All-Star Games as a captain and took home the Most Valuable Player honor in 2018.
Two years ago, he was the only player on his team to score more than 20 points in a victory over a side captained by Stephen Curry.
And in 2019, James produced 19 points in a victorious effort over Team Giannis at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. He averages 24.1 points in the All-Star Game, which is the fourth-best total in the exhibition's history.
Of the top 10 players on that scoring chart, the 35-year-old is the only one with more than 12 appearances.
The Lakers forward consistently turns in strong performances in the All-Star Game, and he will be in search of his fourth MVP honor at the event. He could be an even better asset to his team in Chicago because he is averaging a career high in assists per game at 10.8 to go along with his 25 points per contest.
With Davis, Harden and Doncic alongside him in the starting lineup, James could be the main facilitator on the floor, instead of forcing himself to be the top scorer.
Of course, the Lakers superstar will take his share of shots over four quarters, but with the new rules instituted for this year's All-Star Game, distributing the ball could be more important.
The score will be set at 0-0 for the first three quarters, with the winner of each period earning $100,000 for a community organization.
After the third quarter, the total score from the first three periods will be added up. Twenty-four points will be added to the top score at that point to become the target final score.
In the new format, unselfishness could be rewarded as teams can't be patient in racking up scoring totals, which is why James could thrive even more than he has in previous years.
Trae Young, PG, Atlanta Hawks
Young is averaging 29.7 points, 9.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in his second season with the Atlanta Hawks.
While most NBA fans are aware of his skill set, a good amount of those observers do not get to watch him play every night.
The All-Star Game is the perfect stage for the Oklahoma product to showcase the improvements he has made in his sophomore season to a national audience.
The second-year guard is averaging over 10 more points per game than he put up in his rookie campaign, and fans took notice by voting him in as a starter.
In four of his past five games, Young eclipsed 30 points, and he has a double-digit assist total in seven of his previous nine appearances.
At the All-Star Game, the 21-year-old has a chance to take another vault toward becoming a superstar by thriving on Team Giannis.
Young is the top distributor on the squad, and he owns the second-most points per game on his roster behind Antetokounmpo.
The only concern with his play is he leads the NBA in turnovers with 235, which is 12 more than Harden and 40 more than James and Devin Booker. However, that also means he has the ball in his hands a lot, and that is expected to be the case in Chicago.
If Young shines in his first All-Star Game, he could set a foundation to be a pillar of the exhibition for years to come.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference.