It's Official!!!! Ja Morant will join Lebron James and company as a Western Conference All-Star starter in 2022.
NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James will return to Cleveland as an All-Star Game captain, and Ja Morant and Andrew Wiggins are headed there as first-time selections.
MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry joined them Thursday as the other players voted as starters from the Western Conference.
The starters from the East were Brooklyn's Kevin Durant, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid in the frontcourt, along with Atlanta's Trae Young and Chicago's DeMar DeRozan.
James and Durant, as the leading vote-getters in each conference, will be the captains who draft players for the rosters for the Feb. 20 game in Cleveland.
James, who began his NBA career with the Cavaliers in 2003 and led them to the 2016 championship during his second stint there, was chosen as an All-Star for the 18th straight time. He has been a captain every year since the league went away from the East vs. West format.
Durant's availability for the game is in doubt because of a sprained knee ligament.
Fan ballots accounted for 50% of the vote, with a media panel and current players each accounting for 25%.
Reserves for the game, voted on by the head coaches in each conference, will be announced on Feb. 3.
From the Memphis Grizzlies Press Release:
JA MORANT NAMED STARTER FOR 2022 NBA ALL-STAR GAME
Memphis, Tenn. – The NBA today announced that Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was voted as a starter for the 71st NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. CT.
Morant will become the second Grizzlies player to start an NBA All-Star Game, joining Marc Gasol (2015), the first Grizzlies guard to appear in the game, and the youngest Grizzlies player to compete in the event at 22 years old. He is the fourth All-Star in franchise history (Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph).
In his third NBA season, Morant has started all 37 appearances for the Grizzlies and has averaged 25.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.30 steals in 33.0 minutes. Memphis currently leads the Southwest Division and ranks third in the Western Conference with a 33-17 record (.660). This is the third-highest winning percentage in the NBA and the Grizzlies’ second-best mark in franchise history through the first 50 games of a season.
The 6-3, 174-pound guard leads the NBA in points in the paint (15.5), the highest paint scoring average for a guard in the last 25 seasons, helping the Grizzlies lead the league in points in the paint (franchise-record 56.2) for the third consecutive season. Among league leaders, Morant ranks 10th in scoring and 14th in assists and has recorded seven double-doubles, including the first two 40-point double-doubles in franchise history on Oct. 24 and Dec. 29.
Earlier this month, Morant became the only NBA player this season to receive consecutive Player of the Week Awards after receiving his first career weekly honors on Jan. 3 and Jan. 10 in the midst of the Grizzlies’ franchise-record 11-game winning streak from Dec. 26-Jan. 13.
The Grizzlies have gone 24-8 since Thanksgiving, have won 14 of their last 17 road games, and have won an NBA-most 23 games against teams currently with records .500 and above.
Fans accounted for 50% of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game. All current NBA players and a media panel accounted for 25% each.
Those voters completed one full ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference.
