Getty LeBron James with Kevin Durant.
After weeks of speculation of whether it would happen, the NBA Officially announced a date for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. The game will take place on March 7 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to report the news. The date is expected to be finalized on Thursday.
The NBA and NBPA have agreed to host the All-Star Game on March 7 in Atlanta, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Sides are finalizing details of the plan as soon as Thursday.
Kevin Durant Has the Most All Star Votes
To nobody’s surprise Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is one of the leading vote-getters in the first round of all-star votes, however Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant leads all vote-getters with 2,302,705 votes.
Durant is on his way to his 11th All-Star selection and has a chance to win his third All-Star game Most Valuable Player award. He trails only Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal in scoring this season as he is averaging 30.7 points, to go along with 7.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. KD is doing all this coming off major off-season surgery to repair a torn Achilles.
Brooklyn Could Send Three All-Stars To Atlanta
Durant’s teammates James Harden and Kyrie Irving also have a chance to be selected for the 2021 All-Star Game. Despite missing seven games for personal reasons Kyrie Irving is still having a spectacular season. Brooklyn’s starting point guard is averaging 28.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. James Harden arrived in Brooklyn and picked up right where he left off in Houston. The eight-time all-star is averaging 24.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game. Harden leads the league in assists as he is the only player averaging double-digit dimes. The three all-stars have helped lead the Nets to a 14-9 start.
Because of how many games that the league had to postpone due to either positive COVID tests or contact tracing there was much speculation on if the NBA would even host the All-Star Game in 2021. However, In the latest round of COVID tests from January 27 to February 3, zero players returned positive results according to Shams Charania.
While the NBA may have deemed it safe for the 2021 All-Star Game to proceed, some players like Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox are still in disagreement with the NBA hosting the event. “If I’m gonna be brutally honest I think it’s stupid,” Fox told reporters after the Sacramento Kings victory over the Boston Celtics via ESPN. “If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, what’s the point of bringing the All-Star Game back? But obviously, money makes the world go-’round, so it is what it is. I’m not really worried about it. If I’m voted so be it.”
The NBA at one point looked like it was heading back to the Disney Bubble with all the game postponements and positive COVID tests to start the season. However, the last four weeks have been a bright spot for the league as the number of positives has decreased from 16 to 11 to 1 and now zero during that time frame. The NBA introduced a brand-new format to the All-Star Game last year in Chicago which rendered one of the best games in recent memory. Now that Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have returned from injury, the game should be even more of a success.
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Kevin Durant and LeBron James Lead the Opening Round of All-Star Votes