NBA All-Star Update 2015: Klay Thompson, James Harden Named Starters
The NBA All-Star 2015 Western Conference starting lineup will include three guards.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who was named the coach of the West, announced that Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Houston Rockets guard James Harden will replace the injured Kobe Bryant and Blake Griffin, who were voted into the lineup by the fans.
Thompson, who is also participating in the three-point contest, will join teammate and fellow "Splash Brother" Stephen Curry in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Feb. 15. He is averaging 22.1 points and shooting 44 percent from the three-point range. Harden currently leads the league with an average of 27.4 points per game.
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki will also be making the trip to New York City. Nowitzki will replace the injured Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans as a reserve. The announcement made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver came roughly an hour after Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle stated that not being picked to the All-Star was a "blessing" for the 36-year-old veteran.
"Well, he'll make the best of it. No matter how you look at it, it's a great honor and he is deserving. He's compiling one of the all-time great résumés in NBA history, and this is part of it. So we're proud of him," Carlisle said. "It's a little disappointing that he can't just kind of disappear and enjoy some real off time. But this is one of the responsibilities that comes with greatness, and he understands that."
Nowitzki averages 18.3 points and 6 rebounds.
This will be Nowitzki's 13th NBA All-Star game. He joins a small group of players who have been named to 13 or more All-Star games. These players are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19), Kobe Bryant* (17), Kevin Garnett* (15), Shaquille O'Neal (15), Tim Duncan* (15), Michael Jordan (14), Karl Malone (14), Jerry West (14), Wilt Chamberlain (13), Bob Cousy (13) and John Havlicek (13).
The starters for the Western team will be Curry, Thompson, Harden, and Marc Gasol. Kerr has not named the fifth starter yet. The starters for the East include Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Pau Gasol, John Wall and Kyle Lowry.
The 64th NBA All-Star Game will be airing live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
*Denotes active player
