Embiid Selected For Sixth All-Star Game; Teammate Harden Left Off
On Thursday night the NBA announced the All-Star reserves for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game set to be played on Sunday, February 19th in Salt Lake City, Utah. As expected, Sixers center Joel Embiid made it as an Eastern Conference reserve. But he’ll be going alone because his point guard, James Harden, didn’t make the cut as one of the seven reserves. This is the sixth consecutive appearance for Embiid, his first as a non-starter.
Harden, a 10-time All-Star, certainly had the numbers to be selected for his 11th appearance while helping lead Philadelphia to a 33-17 record — third in the East standings. But playing in just 34 games of the team’s possible 50 games likely played a part in him being left off the team. The 76ers’ point guard is averaging 21 points, 11 assists and six rebounds per game. His 11 assists lead the league but he has not played in enough games to qualify as the league leader.
Here is the full list of the 14 players selected by the coaches for the game, except for Harden since he wasn’t named a reserve:
East Reserves (No James Harden)
- Joel Embiid
- Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
- DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls)
- Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)
- Julius Randle (New York Knicks)
- Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers)
West Reserves
- Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies)
- Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings)
- Damian Lillard (Portland Trailblazers)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz)
- Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
A few notable names that were left off besides Harden in the East
- Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
- Jimmy Butler (Heat)
- Trae Young (Hawks)
- Pascal Siakam (Raptors)
And a few in the West that were also deserving –
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves)
- Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets).
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla will coach Team Giannis (Antetokounmpo). While Nuggets coach Michael Malone will coach team LeBron (James). Giannis and LeBron are the captains and will conduct the draft from the pool of players on gameday shortly before tipoff.
