Luka Doncic edges Damian Lillard among 2021 NBA All-Star Game starters

The starters for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game have been announced.

Starters for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game were announced on TNT’s Inside the NBA on Thursday, and there weren’t too many surprises — aside from the obvious weirdness that All-Star starters are being determined about 30 games into this 72-game campaign, of course.

For the Western Conference, LeBron James earned his 17th straight start in the All-Star game, which is the most in league history, tallying 5.9 million fan votes. Kawhi Leonard (fifth selection) and Nikola Jokic (third selection) rounded out the frontcourt.

In the backcourt, Stephen Curry, the league leader in 3-pointers, earned his seventh selection, while Luka Doncic (second selection) earned the fan vote tiebreaker over Damian Lillard for the final starting spot in the West.

The starters for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game are set

In the East, Kevin Durant led the way with 5.6 million votes to earn his 11th career selection. Giannis Antetokounmpo (fifth) and Joel Embiid (fourth) unsurprisingly rounded out the frontcourt.

LeBron, Curry and Durant were the only three players to crack 5 million votes.

The backcourt in the East was a bit more contentious, with James Harden missing the cut behind Bradley Beal (third selection) and Kyrie Irving (seventh selection). The Brooklyn Nets are the only team with two All-Star starters thanks to KD and Kyrie, while the Washington Wizards’ lack of team success wasn’t enough to keep Beal, the league’s leading scorer, out of the starting lineup.

Harden finished third among backcourt players in the Eastern voting.

The vote was comprised of 50 percent fan vote, 25 percent media vote and 25 percent player vote. Fan voting ended on Tuesday, and the league’s 30 head coaches will vote on the remaining seven reserve spots for each conference. Those selections will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

As the lead vote-getters in each conference, LeBron and Durant will serve as team captains, drafting from the remaining 22-player pool of All-Stars on March 4.