The NBA All-Star starting lineup for this year has been revealed, with 8 out of 10 spots aligning with fan voting results. However, in the East, Damian Lillard made a stunning comeback to edge out Trae Young, while the bigger shake-up came in the West’s guard positions: the red-hot Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) squeezed out Stephen Curry in the final voting round.
Curry had secured nine consecutive All-Star starting spots in the West. Although he missed last season’s game due to injury, his name appeared in every starting lineup announcement during that streak.
Perhaps the time for a changing of the guard has truly arrived. At 35, Curry is single-handedly holding together a Warriors team plagued by roster instability and a lack of generational talent, while SGA is leading the young Thunder squad to the No. 2 seed in the West. His rise has launched a powerful challenge to the long-standing popularity hierarchy among Western Conference guards.
At just 25, SGA is only making his second All-Star appearance. His skyrocketing popularity is no accident: he’s averaged over 30 points in back-to-back seasons, and halfway through this campaign, he’s already scored 1,339 points (No. 1 in the league) with 2.3 steals per game (also No. 1). Fans worldwide are captivated by his masterful shooting skills.
Still, shaking up the Western guards’ established popularity isn’t easy—after all, a star’s appeal is rooted in playoff performance. Curry has four championships and was the 2022 All-Star MVP. In the first three rounds of fan voting, Curry clung to the No. 2 spot among Western guards by a slim margin. In the third round, SGA still trailed by 280,000 votes.
But the NBA revised its All-Star starting vote rules in recent years. If Curry stayed No. 2 and SGA No. 3, Curry’s lead—no matter how large—would only translate to a 0.5-point advantage. Fan votes account for 50% of the total, with the other half decided by media and players.
The final results showed a stark divide between fans, players, and media on the West’s two starting guard spots. Fans ranked Luka Dončić first, Curry second, and SGA third, but both players and media placed SGA first and Luka second. Curry ranked third among players’ votes and even fourth among media votes (behind Anthony Edwards).
In the East, Tyrese Haliburton’s popularity soared, but over the second starting guard spot among fans, players, and media were even more pronounced than in the West.
Haliburton, the current assists leader (and likely future assists king for the next decade), has won over fans with his playmaking. Plus, with the All-Star Game in Indianapolis, his hometown momentum skyrocketed. In just his second All-Star appearance, he dominated as the unanimous No. 1 pick across fan, media, and player votes.
When the third-round fan votes were released, Trae Young pushed Lillard (who had been No. 2) out of the top spot, seeming poised for an All-Star return. Lillard, a seven-time All-Star in the West, had never started an All-Star game. Moving to the East, he needed time to build fan support.
But players ranked Lillard fourth (behind Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Haliburton—wait, no, actually behind Maxey and Brunson), and media placed him fifth (behind Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, and Maxey).
In a classic case of “when two birds fight, the fisherman benefits,” Lillard tied with Jalen Brunson in overall scoring, but his higher fan vote ranking secured his first Eastern Conference All-Star starting spot.
This year’s All-Star starting lineup signals that the guard positions in both conferences are in a state of chaos. The six forward spots, however, will likely remain stable for now—unless LeBron James and Kevin Durant retire, the West’s forward lineup won’t change. At guard, Luka (still young) will hold his spot, but the East’s two spots and the West’s remaining guard slot will see fierce competition in the coming years.
This marks the league’s generational shift, as guard has always been the focal point for popularity contests among star players. In the East, Tyrese Haliburton (with his elite playmaking) and Tyrese Haliburton—wait, no, Maxey, with his standout performances, will likely be picked by coaches for the All-Star team and could challenge for a starting role. Trae Young, a two-time starter, won’t go quietly, and Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, and others are in their primes.
The West is stacked with superstars: James Harden returning, Kyrie Irving joining, Curry (35) still playing at a high level, and young guns like SGA, Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, and Devin Booker (a scoring machine) on the rise. Ja Morant is sidelined temporarily due to mistakes and injury but will be back.
Curry certainly won’t concede his starting spot easily. Just look at his performance against the Kings in a back-to-back game: 5-of-8 from deep in the first half, dropping 18 points. Sure, the veteran might show slight decline, but as the saying goes, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse—and don’t mistake a resting tiger for a sick cat.
