Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Participate in First NBA All-Star Game on Sunday

On Sunday, Feb. 19, Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will play in his first career All-Star game, marking Oklahoma City's first representative since Chris Paul made it during his lone season in OKC. Once again, the NBA has adjusted the all-star format, selecting teams live on TNT an hour before the game tips off.

Laker's superstar LeBron James and Milwaukee Bucks crown-jewel Giannis Antetokounmpo are the captains for this season's all-star event, with the Bucks forward replacing new Suns forward Kevin Durant, who was one of the All-Star Game captains in 2022.

Antetokounmpo and James will both select 11 players before joining their squad on the court for the contest at 7:30 P.M. CT. First, each of the capitanes will draft their team's starting five from a pool of eight players, then select their bench players in the reserves section of the draft.

Despite averaging over 30 points per game and shooting over 50% from the field, Gilgeous-Alexander is an All-Star Reserve.

The NBA All-Star Game offers a very unique format, where the opposing sides play against each other for three 12-minute quarters, with the clock being turned off in the final frame. The leading team's score through three periods plus 24 is the game's "target score", meaning the first team to hit this mark wins the game.

In 2022, Steph Curry earned All-Star Game MVP honors, scoring 50 points and knocking down a whopping 16 3-pointers. Gilgeous-Alexander has +2100 odds to win the contest MVP award this season.

After seeing the recognition that Jalen Williams, Josh Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander received during the Rising Stars Challenge, Thunder fans have reason to be optimistic that the 30-point-per-game scorer will be highlighted during the action on Sunday.

Enamored with his clothing style, the fifth-year OKC guard was the talk of the broadcast on Friday night during the Rising Stars Game. Be sure to tune in at 7:30 to watch Gilgeous-Alexander represent Oklahoma City in Utah.

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