Jan. 23, 2015
NEW YORK – The NBA announced Thursday the starting lineups for this 2015 All-Star Game in New York – as voted on by fans – and two of them are former Wildcat greats: college national players of the Year and No. 1 overall draft picks Anthony Davis and John Wall.
The former Wildcats will both be making their second consecutive appearance and first as starters in the 64th NBA All-Star Game, which will tip off Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game will be seen by fans in 215 countries and territories and will be heard in 47 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 13th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 30th year of NBA All-Star coverage.
Davis and Wall have been two of the league’s breakout stars this season. Davis is averaging 24.3 points, 10.4 points, 1.6 assists and a league-leading 3.0 blocks per game in his third season with the New Orleans Pelicans. Wall has guided the Washington Wizards to second place in the East, and is averaging 17 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and a league-high 10.0 assists per game. They are both tied for fourth in the NBA with 23 double-doubles apiece.
NBA All-Star balloting in 2015 gave fans around the world the opportunity to vote for their favorite players to start in the All-Star Game. As part of the NBA’s all-digital program, fans voted on NBA.com; through social media networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo and Tencent Microblog; via SMS text; and with the NBA Game Time and the NBA Game Time from Sprint applications.
Davis led the West frontcourt in voting with 1,369,911 fan votes. Only Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Cleveland’s LeBron James received more votes. At age 21, Davis is the youngest starter in this year’s game, which features five first-time starters and 10 starters from 10 different teams.
Western Conference #NBAAllStarNYC Starter @AntDavis23 of the @PelicansNBA! pic.twitter.com/KEXOJuJOHG
— 2015 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 23, 2015
Wall earned his first All-Star starting nod after receiving the most votes in the East among guards with 886,368.
The NBA’s 30 head coaches will select the reserves for the 2015 All-Star Game. They must vote for seven players within their conference: two guards, three frontcourt players and two players regardless of position. Reserves will be announced on Thursday on TNT.
Former Wildcats DeMarcus Cousins, Brandon Knight and Rajon Rondo are expected to be among possible selections to the reserves. Cousins finished seventh in voting for the West frontcourt with 465,334 votes, while Rondo was eighth among guards with 219,506.
Additional All-Star Weekend festivities include: Rising Stars Challenge, Skills Challenge, Dunk Contest, Three-Point Contest and the NBA Development League All-Star Game. Announcements for participation in those events will come at a later date.
Eastern Conference #NBAAllStarNYC Starter @JohnWall of the @WashWizards! pic.twitter.com/nXsvQ7vry6
— 2015 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 23, 2015
