The NBA announced the starters from each conference in the All-Star Game last week as the season progresses toward the annual showcase on Feb. 17-19 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James led all players in fan voting to represent the Western Conference while Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was the lead vote-getter in the Eastern Conference. The two players will serve as captains and select their teams right before the start of the All-Star Game for the first time.
Joining James as the starters from the Western Conference are Nikola Jokic (Denver), Zion Williamson (New Orleans), Stephen Curry (Golden State) and Luka Doncic (Dallas). From the Eastern Conference, the other starters were Kevin Durant (Brooklyn), Jayson Tatum (Boston), Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn) and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland).
Those players have helped their respective teams to a strong first half of the season. They are performing at a high level and have their teams in the playoff hunt. Events should get interesting with the trade deadline looming as teams look to make a run at the playoffs.
To make further sense of it, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We come back each week and provide our latest assessment of the best teams and those that are rising.