The 2021 NBA All-Star Game, about to be played on March 7 in Atlanta, Georgia, will be the seventieth edition of an exhibition game that will witness an opposition between the Team LeBron and the Team Durant. The latter, injured, will finally not play, while some NBA fans will keep on missing the former concept of the ASG and the West/East confrontation. Times are changing, and modernity brings some new ideas which are not always the best ones! Personal point of view.
This edition will have an African contingent split into both teams: the Greek Freak and power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nigerian roots, will be in the starting lineup of Team LeBron. In the meantime, Cameroonian center Joel Embiid will defend the colors of Team Durant (in the starters as well). It is the fifth selection for the player of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference, the one who was designated MVP of the regular season a few years ago. For Embiid, this fourth selection in an All-Star Game is the evidence that his (great) work with the Sixers and his incredible statistics are recognized as they should be in a squad that is leading the Eastern Conference before the Nets and the Bucks.
Europe will be part of the party as well, with players like Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro), Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Rudy Gobert (France) and Domantas Sabonis (Lithuania). Ben Simmons will stand for Australia.
Special mention for the New York Knicks, whose astonishing season enabled the Big Apple franchise to send one All-Star to Atlanta. This first call for Julius Randle is validating the good performances of the Knicks and their coach Tom Thibodeau, ranking fifth of the Eastern Conference.
Speaking of coaches, Doc Rivers (Philly) will manage the Team Durant while Quin Snyder (Jazz) will look after the Team LeBron.
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