Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, Victor Oladipo Among Reserves for 2019 All-Star Game
The NBA announced the reserves for the 2019 All-Star Game on Thursday and Anthony Davis, Victor Oladipo, Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic were among the 14 players selected.
Representing the East this year in addition to starters Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid and the conference's top vote-getter Giannis Antetokounmpo is Kyle Lowry of the Raptors (fifth All-Star selection), Victor Oladipo of the Pacers (second selection), Blake Griffin of the Pistons (sixth selection), Bradley Beal of the Wizards (second selection) and first-time selections Khris Middleton of the Bucks, Nikola Vucevic of the Magic and Ben Simmons of the 76ers.
With Oladipo done for the season, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports Jimmy Butler of the 76ers and D'Angelo Russell of the Nets are the top choices to be picked as replacements.
For the West, Russell Westbrook of the Thunder (eighth selection), Anthony Davis of the Pelicans (sixth selection), Damian Lillard (fourth selection), Klay Thompson (fifth selection), LaMarcus Aldridge of the Spurs (seventh selection) Karl-Anthony Towns of the Timberwolves (second selection) and first-time selection Nikola Jokic for the Nuggets will be the reserves. Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Paul George were all pegged as starters and LeBron James was voted a captain along with Antetokounmpo.
The biggest potential snubs of this year's game include Luka Doncic of the Mavericks, DeMar DeRozan of the Spurs, Rudy Gobert of the Jazz and Tobias Harris of the Clippers.
The All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 17 in Charlotte. The All-Star draft will be televised on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT, just hours after the NBA trade deadline.
