With the 2023 edition of the NBA All-Star Game set to begin Sunday evening, it remained a mystery until soon before tipoff which All-Stars would be playing for which team.
And that was by design after the NBA tweaked the format this year so that team captains Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James would pick their rosters just before the game was set to begin.
Antetokounmpo, who had the first pick, selected Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard. A funny moment came a few minutes later when Antetokounmpo tried to select Ja Morant before he was allowed to do so because Morant was in the pool of starters, not the pool of reserves. The captains were selecting the reserves first, and then the starters. Antetokounmpo would go on to select Morant later, though.
James and Antetokounmpo went back and forth to make all of their picks. So here are the rosters for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game (listed in the order they were picked). The game was set to begin at 5 p.m. PT (TV on TNT).
TEAM GIANNIS
Reserves
Damian Lillard
Jrue Holiday
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
DeMar DeRozan
Pascal Siakam
Bam Adebayo
Domantas Sabonis
Starters
Giannis Antetokounmpo (captain)
Jayson Tatum
Ja Morant
Donovan Mitchell
Lauri Markkanen
TEAM LEBRON
Reserves
Anthony Edwards
Jaylen Brown
Paul George
Tyrese Haliburton
Julius Randle
De’Aaron Fox
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Starters
LeBron James (captain)
Joel Embiid
Kyrie Irving
Luka Doncic
Nikola Jokic