Captains' prerogative in picking All - Stars

NEW YORK - Team LeBron against Team Stephen is the NBA's new All - Star matchup.

LeBron James and Stephen Curry will go head - to - head again, this time as captains who will pick their own teams for the revamped mid - season showcase.

James and Curry received the most votes from fans in their conferences on Thursday night and will draft from a pool of the rest of the NBA's best for the Feb 18 All - Star game in Los Angeles.

"Captain huh? Really appreciate all the votes from the fans, media and players!" Curry wrote on Twitter.

James will pick first as the player who received the most fan votes. He will make his 14th All - Star Game start, one behind Kobe Bryant for the most in league history.

"Congrats Captain," Kevin Love wrote to his Cleveland teammate James on Instagram.

James could start his team with Kevin Durant, who teamed with Curry to beat the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Or maybe he could go with Kyrie Irving, a former All - Star Game MVP who asked to be traded away from Cleveland last summer and has led Boston to the best record in the East.

Perhaps it will be Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom James came from behind to edge with 2.6 million votes. The 'Greek Freak' had a little more than 2.5 million.

The format was changed from the traditional East vs West matchup for the first time after lackluster games the past two seasons, when players made little attempt to defend and the West nearly scored 200 points in both of its victories.

Both James and Curry will make their first four picks from the pool of starters, but they don't have to stick to conference affiliation.

The other starters from the Eastern Conference will be Toronto's DeMar DeRozan and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, the only first - time All - Star among the starters.

New Orleans also has two starters in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Houston guard James Harden, the NBA's scoring leader, rounds out the starters, who were selected by a combination of fan, media and player voting.

Fan balloting accounted for 50 percent of the formula, with the media panel and player vote splitting the rest.

The seven reserves in each conference, voted upon by the head coaches in each conference, will be announced on Tuesday, and the rosters selected by James and Curry will be unveiled next Thursday. The league does not plan to televise the draft.

Associated Press