No hurt feelings: NBA changes format for All-Star Draft

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The “last pick” of Sundaynight’s All-Star Draft will be a starter.

The NBA has changed the format of Sunday’s draft, and LeBronJames and Giannis Antetokounmpo — the captains — will make theirpicks from the pool of reserve players first.

They’ll then choose their starting lineups, from the pool ofeight other starters. The switch will ensure that no player willhave to deal with the stigma of being picked last, even though thathasn’t been too much of an issue in the past.

This is the sixth year of the format where captains — determinedby fan voting — choose their own All-Star rosters, but the firstyear in which those captains will do so on game night and basicallyright in front of the other All-Stars.

The 2018 draft was not shown publicly. The 2019 draft hadBradley Beal as the last pick among reserves, not including DwyaneWade and Dirk Nowitzki — who were added to the game by CommissionerAdam Silver to commemorate their final seasons. (Nowitzki wound upbeing the last pick.)

In 2020, Domantas Sabonis, then of Indiana, was the last pick.In 2021, Rudy Gobert, then of Utah, was the last reserve left onthe board. And last year, the final pick was James Harden — afterKevin Durant took Gobert, and didn’t choose his former Brooklynteammate in a comical scene.