Voting for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game closed on Monday, with the selections set to be announced on Thursday. Here, Chris Driscoll shares which players would have been on his ballot if he had a vote.
Voters have different criteria when picking All-Star starters. How good is a player’s team? How dominant are they individually? How fun are they to watch?
Driscoll’s picks combine everything — traditional box score stats, advanced stats, and a little bit of team success.
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Western Conference Backcourt
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Stats: 31.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 6.0 APG, 64.4 TS%, 2.1 SPG, 1.1 BPG
Up first, we have one of the shoo-ins to be a starter. Gilgeous-Alexander has been filthy all season long. The most impressive thing about Gilgeous-Alexander is that when he is on the court, the Thunder outscore their opponents by over 18 points per 100 possessions, but when he is off the court, they are actually outscored by about half a point. I do not think people realize how insane that is. This has been debatably the best guard season we have seen since 2016 Stephen Curry.
Through 40 games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having one of the best scoring seasons of all time. pic.twitter.com/xpldxEAJyR
— Automatic (@automaticnba) January 17, 2025
Stephen Curry
Stats: 23 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 6.2 APG, 61.8 TS%, 41.1 3P%, 1.2 SPG
As underwhelming as Curry has been this year, it was still a relatively easy decision to pick him as the second guard out west. Despite the Warriors being 5-3 in games that Curry did not play, they do not look like a good team without him. They are at a +4.57 net rating with him on the court, but -4.04 with him off the court. Even though these numbers are nothing special, the rest of the guards in the West have not been as great. Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker started slow, De’Aaron Fox has quieted down, and Luka Doncic has not played in enough games.
Western Conference Frontcourt
Nikola Jokic
Stats: 30.1 PPG, 13.2 RPG, 9.9 APG, 64.8 TS%, 1.8 SPG, 0.6 BPG
Similar to Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic being voted in as an All-Star starter is pretty much not a question. By just looking at the box score stats alone, that is already enough. However, do you remember when I said Gilgeous-Alexander and Curry’s on/off stats were impressive? The Nuggets are at a +12.84 with Jokic off the floor but -9.38 with him off the floor. The Nuggets have absolutely no business being a top-four seed, especially with Aaron Gordon missing so much time.
Victor Wembanyama
Stats: 24.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 3.7 APG, 59.2 TS%, 1.1 SPG, 4 BPG
I fully expected Wembanyama’s sophomore year to be similar to his rookie year in terms of reduced playing time, because the Spurs were not going to be trying to win games. However, they have performed much better than expected, primarily because of Wembanyama. This will be the first of many years that he earns a starting spot in the All-Star Game.
Wemby has only been playing basketball in the NBA for two seasons. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/VPTxvyeGGZ
— theScore (@theScore) January 18, 2025
Anthony Davis
Stats: 25.6 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 59.7 TS%, 1.2 SPG, 2.2 BPG
The Lakers have had one roller-coaster year. Unfortunately for Davis, it has been a steep decline. His points per game total has gone down every month since the beginning of the year, and his true shooting percentage is much lower in December/January than it was in October/November. With this being said, he looked like an MVP for the first two months of the season, and he deserves credit for that.Â
Eastern Conference Backcourt
Donovan Mitchell
Stats: 23.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.5 APG, 57.9 TS%, 1.4 SPG
Similar to Curry, these numbers are not overwhelming. However, I am rewarding Mitchell for being the best player on the best team. He is not scoring at a crazy volume and has been nothing special with efficiency, and some people might argue Darius Garland has been better all season long. However, Mitchell is the guy to deliver in big situations.
Jalen Brunson
Stats: 26.0 PPG, 7.4 APG, 60.4 TS%, 0.9 SPG
The next Eastern Conference guard was easy enough. Despite the slow start, Brunson has been awesome for the season. It feels weird because everyone saw Brunson as a top-15 player in the league last year, but not many people have been acknowledging him this year — despite him being even better than he was last year.
Eastern Conference Frontcourt
Jayson Tatum
Stats: 27.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 5.4 APG, 59.6 TS%, 1.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Picking the three frontcourt starters for the Eastern Conference was by far the easiest decision — especially for the best player on the reigning champs, Jayson Tatum. Nitpicking Tatum’s weaknesses can be easy, but there are not more than five players you want on your team over Tatum. A guy who can score at will, defend all positions, and show up every night is someone you want on your team and will routinely start All-Star games.Â
I think I’m ready
If you don’t have Tatum in your top 5, that is an idiotic take https://t.co/ZltjayU3yY
— Chris Driscoll NBA (@AmericanHooper) November 16, 2024
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Stats: 31.5 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 6.0 APG, 61.8 TS%, 0.8 SPG, 1.4 BPG
Speaking of top-five players, Antetokounmpo should also get the nod to start the All-Star Game. Have the Bucks been disappointing this year? For sure. However, is it Antetokounmpo’s fault? Absolutely not. The Bucks have Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and a bunch of “guys.” Similar to Jokic, the fact that Antetokounmpo has his team in the No. 4 seed is impressive enough, and he should be applauded for it, not slandered.
Karl-Anthony Towns
Stats: 25.4 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 3.3 APG, 66.4 TS%, 1.0 SPG, 0.8 BPG
Towns is having a career season in Year 10. I can’t remember a time when we have seen this happen to a player. Towns has always been great, but ever since being traded to a new team, he has taken it to another level this year. The duo of Towns and Brunson has been one of the best in the league and will be the primary reason the Knicks win a playoff series or two.
More Analysis
Interested in learning more about Chris Driscoll’s process and selections? Watch his detailed breakdown below.
Main Image Credit: New York Knicks/NBA.com
