NBA All Star Game 2022: times, TV and how to watch online
The NBA All-Star Game between Teams LeBron and Durant featuring the best of the league is set to cap off a weekend of electric basketball action.
The best players of the NBA will go head-to-head for this year’s All-Star Game, with team captains James LeBron of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets at the helm. The game caps off a weekend of basketball excitement, and has evolved from the time the All-Star Game was conceived.
The first contest took place in 1951, when 24 of the league’s best were divided into two teams- the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.
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Sold-out stadiums
It turned out that basketball fans were eager to see all their favorite players on the court at the same time. That first game held at the Boston Garden was a success, drawing a crowd of more than 10,000.
Since then, the NBA All-Star Game has continued to attract fans into the arena, setting records for audience attendance, reaching more than 100,000 in 2010- a record for audience size for a basketball game at that time.
However, the Games were sometimes viewed as non-competitive, with some stars putting in lackadaisical performances. Something had to be done to make the contest more dynamic.
The NBA makes a change
The league decided to inject some pizzazz into the game by changing the composition of the teams to shake things up. In 2018, squads were no longer divided by conference; instead, the players with the most votes per conference were to be declared team captains who would draft their members from the pool of All-Star starters and reserves, regardless of conference.
The changes have been received positively, and have generated the interest of the fans.
Star-studded show
Despite the perception of non-competitiveness, these exhibition games have provided countless exciting plays by NBA icons through the years.
Game MVPs in the past include NBA legends such as Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant.
How to watch the NBA All-Star Game 2022
Date: Sunday, Feb. 10, 2022
Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
Venue: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio
TV: TNT
Livestream: TNT
You can also catch the live text coverage and commentary by AS USA’s very own Dane Arlauckas.
Here is the full roster for the teams competing for this year’s All-Star trophy.
Full roster of NBA All-Star Game 2022
| TEAM LEBRON | TEAM DURANT |
| LeBron James | Joel Embiid |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | Ja Morant |
| Stephen Curry | Jayson Tatum |
| DeMar DeRozan | Trae Young |
| Nikola Jokic | Andrew Wiggins |
| Luka Doncic | Devin Booker |
| Darius Garland | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| Chris Paul | Zach LaVine |
| Jimmy Butler | DeJounte Murray |
| Donovan Mitchell | Khris Middleton |
| Fred VanVleet | LaMelo Ball |
| James Harden | Rudy Gobert |