With Kevin Durant and Draymond Green sidelined, the Hornets guard and Spurs guard will get their shot at Cleveland.
The NBA announced Monday that Charlotte Hornets PG LaMelo Ball and San Antonio Spurs PG DeJonte Murray have been named as the All-Star Game for injured Kevin Durant and Draymond Greene.
The NBA also announced that Boston Celtics SF Jason Tatum would replace Durant as a starter.
Durant has been battling a knee injury for the Brooklyn Nets and has already said he will not play for a second consecutive All-Star Game. KD was also named as one of the captains for the game, so he is expected to draft his team just like last season. Greene announced that he was not going to take part in All-Star Weekend during the TNT broadcast last week, when he announced the reserve.
Ball and Murray matter most as replacements. Both were considered ASG snubs by DK Nation staff at the time of the announcement. The Ball is a walking highlight reel and as such is in the ASG format. Murray is having a breakout season for Spurs. We could see one or both players end up in an NBA skill challenge on the Saturday of that weekend. The ball matters a lot to the competition. The Hornets phenom was already scheduled to take part in the Rising Stars tournament on Friday night.