NBA: LeBron James, Kevin Durant to captain ‘slap in face’ All-Star Game, as Silver plays fan card

NBA flip-flops on All-Star Game, saying ‘doing this as a TV event still reaches 99.9 per cent of our fans’

Commissioner Adam Silver says ‘he certainly hears the other side of the issue’ as players came off a shortened off-season

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LeBron James said the All-Star Game is a “slap in the face” after players were told before the season began there would not be one. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:24am, 19 Feb 2021Updated: 11:24am, 19 Feb 2021

LeBron James and Kevin Durant were named captains for next month’s NBA All-Star Game on Thursday as the league confirmed plans for the showpiece despite an outcry from stars.

The league announced on Thursday that the 70th NBA All-Star Game will be played on March 7 in Atlanta, along with such skills events as the Dunk Contest and three-point shoot-out.

“NBA All-Star in Atlanta will continue our annual tradition of celebrating the game and the greatest players in the world before a global audience,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.

The game comes during a midseason break that had been meant to give all players a rest after a shorter than usual off-season gap after Covid-19 delayed the 2019-20 NBA Finals, where James sparked the Los Angeles Lakers to the title.

LeBron James will captain one team along with Kevin Durant at this season’s All-Star Game. Photo: AFP

“We came off a short off-season of 71 days and then coming into the season we were told we were not going to have an All-Star Game so we would have a nice little break,” James said earlier this month.

“Then they throw an All-Star Game on us like this. It is pretty much a slap in the face.”

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