San Francisco (AFP) – San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and Boston guard Jaylen Brown were among 14 players named on Thursday as reserves for next month’s NBA All-Star Game at San Francisco. Guards and frontcourt players were named from both the Eastern and Western conferences for the February 16 event, with the bench talent chosen by NBA coaches from their conference.
Wembanyama, a 7-foot-3 (2.21m) French star who captured NBA Rookie of the Year honors last season, is averaging 24.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.9 blocked shots, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals a game. The 21-year-old Frenchman will make his All-Star Game debut alongside such other West reserves as Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards, Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden, Memphis forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Oklahoma City forward Jalen Williams, and another European center making his All-Star Game debut — Turkish big man Alperen Sengun of Houston.
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The East reserves included Brown, Cleveland guard Darius Garland, Milwaukee guard Damian Lillard, and Cameroonian forward Pascal Siakam of Indiana, plus three first-time All-Stars — Detroit guard Cade Cunningham, Cleveland forward Evan Mobley, and Miami guard Tyler Herro. Brown is averaging 23.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists a game for the reigning NBA champions. Combined with All-Star starter Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers have three All-Star players from a squad with an NBA-best record of 38-9.
Ten All-Star Game starters were announced last week, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Stephen Curry from the West, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mitchell from the East. In a new All-Star format, talent from the complete player pool will be distributed in a draft next Thursday by team general managers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith.
Their chosen eight-man rosters will compete along with the Rising Stars game winners on February 14 in a mini-tournament on All-Star night, with each game played to 40 points and a top prize of $125,000 per player from a $1.8 million prize pool.
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