SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The “last pick” of the All-Star Draft will be a starter.
The NBA has changed the format of the draft, and LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo – the captains – will make their picks from the pool of reserve players first.
They’ll then choose their starting line-ups, from the pool of eight other starters. The switch will ensure that no player will have to deal with the stigma of being picked last, even though that hasn’t been too much of an issue in the past.
This is the sixth year of the format where captains – determined by fan voting – choose their own All-Star rosters, but the first year in which those captains will do so on game night and basically right in front of the other All-Stars.
The 2018 draft was not shown publicly. The 2019 draft had Bradley Beal as the last pick among reserves, not including Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki – who were added to the game by Commissioner Adam Silver to commemorate their final seasons. (Nowitzki wound up being the last pick.)
In 2020, Domantas Sabonis, then of Indiana, was the last pick. In 2021, Rudy Gobert, then of Utah, was the last reserve left on the board. And last year, the final pick was James Harden – after Kevin Durant took Gobert, and didn’t choose his former Brooklyn teammate in a comical scene.
New Orleans guard Jose Alvarado’s drifting three-pointer clinched a 25-20 win for Team Pau (Gasol) over Team Joakim (Noah) in the title game of the Rising Stars event yesterday at All-Star weekend.
Alvarado, who was named the Most Valuable Player, had five points in the title game.
The win capped a memorable day for Gasol, who was named a Basketball Hall of Fame finalist yesterday. “I’m going out on top. It may be one and done for me,” Gasol said of his coaching debut.
New York’s Quentin Grimes scored 14 points in the final but was wrapped up – literally held at times – by Alvarado down the stretch.
“I didn’t know you could do that in the Rising Stars game. I should have alerted the refs to call a technical or something,” Grimes said. “It was all fun but I was going for the win tonight.”
Said Alvarado: “It might not have been (legal), but he was doing good.”
The four teams, comprised of 21 first- and second-year NBA players along with seven G League players, competed in semi-finals games to a target score of 40.
Alvarado’s 13 points helped Team Pau top Team Deron (Williams) in the first game 40-27, despite an array of spectacular dunks by Trey Murphy III.
In the second semi-final, Grimes scored 13 points including the winning three to power Team Joakim over Team Jason (Terry), composed of the G Leaguers. Mac McClung, who is competing in the Dunk Contest, nearly stole the show with 10 points in the comeback bid but missed a jam on his last attempt.
Team Dwyane rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Team Ryan 81-78 in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game yesterday. Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and Basketball Hall of Fame finalist Dwyane Wade served as honorary captains of the celebrity teams.
Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf paced Team Dwyane with 20 points and 10 rebounds – but he’ll be best remembered for an array of dunks. Actor Everett Osbourne led Team Ryan with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Metcalf was named the game’s MVP.
Each celebrity team included a WNBA All-Star. Phoenix Mercury guard Diamond DeShields played for Team Ryan. Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale played for Team Dwyane. Other notable athletes participating included former NFL player Calvin Johnson and former MLB player Albert Pujols.
Wade added former NBA player Carlos Boozer to his team in the second half. Smith countered by adding former NBA player Richard Jefferson. Jefferson served as part of the officiating crew during the first half; he also worked as an official for one quarter of a Summer League game in Las Vegas last year.
Between the game, and a three-point shootout between Smith and Wade, USD142,000 was raised for five for the Fight, a charitable foundation devoted to funding cancer research.
Smith said the funds raised yesterday would benefit the Huntsman Cancer Institute on the University of Utah campus.
Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr was asked if Michael Jordan – who turned 60 yesterday – could compete if they were to play one-on-one now. Smith was pretty sure Jordan wouldn’t be getting buckets. “He’s not beating me right now. If a 60-year-old is hooping on me, I need to hang it up,” Smith said. He then added, “Happy Birthday, MJ!”
Alvarado is listed at six feet, which might be a tiny bit generous.
He doesn’t mind.
When told before yesterday Rising Stars event that he was a hero for the undersized, Alvarado had a message for others who consider themselves vertically challenged.
“Hey short people, I’m just like y’all. We got a lot of heart,” Alvarado said. “I see lots of other little guys tagging me on Instagram. I see your love. Keep being yourself, don’t try to be nobody else.”
Alvarado admitted that the highlights of him hiding behind bigger players to get steals in the backcourt is making it tougher to surprise opponents.
“Everybody seen those clips. Now, so I just got to find another way, but I’m crafty,” he said.
Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams said the season has been like a dream. He used to wear Derrick Rose’s shoes constantly when he was younger and then found himself guarding D-Rose in Madison Square Garden.
“So wild,” Williams said before the Rising Stars games. “Going up against people that I watched on TV is definitely kind of surreal.”
