The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA.
The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.
Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:
Team Shaq
O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft selecting LeBron James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) between the eight players.
The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Luka Doncic to L.A. Additionally, all of Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.
Team Kenny
As opposed to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name. Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-time All-Stars. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.
Team Chuck
Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He landed the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama being first-time All-Stars, but Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.
A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (Game 1) while the other two also play each other (Game 2). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.
The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8M. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125K, while members of the second-place team earn $50K. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25K.
