Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first reaction after receiving the captain’s “armband” for the NBA All Star Game

Giannis Antetokounmpo reacted to his announcement for the first time since being announced as one of the captains in this year’s All Star Game with a photo of him giving a military salute and smiling. LeBron James will be the opposing captain.

El Capitan! 😂 pic.twitter.com/CUN6J2gcMm

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) January 27, 2023

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/NDxhPE4iA4

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 27, 2023

As it became known in the last few days, the NBA is implementing a new innovation as both Giannis and Lebron will choose their teammates just a short time before the jamball! Opera and it means that no one will know in which team he will play!

For now the two players only know the starting five:

Eastern Conference starters

• Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
• Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets)
• Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
• Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets)

Western Conference starters

• • LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
  • Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
  • Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)
  • Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
  • Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)

The 2023 #NBAAllStar Team Captains!#TeamLeBron#TeamGiannis

TNT will air the 2023 NBA All-Star Draft as a new, live pregame segment at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 pm ET from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. pic.twitter.com/uVrcB2h1Am

— NBA (@NBA) January 27, 2023

“I’m definitely blessed and humbled to be a part of this,” Mitchell said during the televised starters’ announcement on TNT. “To be a part of my fourth All-Star and now to be a starter, I couldn’t be happier.”

The big intrigue was the third East frontcourt spot, where Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid — No. 2 in the NBA’s scoring race entering Thursday at 33.4 points per game — was the odd man out after Antetokounmpo, Durant and Tatum were the top three in the balloting.

Starters — three frontcourt players and two guards from each conference — were selected by a combination of three different votes: fan balloting counted for 50%, media balloting was worth 25% and voting by the NBA’s players made up the final 25%.

The reserves, which are chosen by votes from the league’s coaches, will be announced Feb. 2. Among the players certain to merit strong consideration: Portland’s Damian Lillard, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Miami’s Bam Adebayo.

James is 157 points away from Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring total of 38,387 points. At his current average of 29.9 points per game, James will need just over five games to break the record – and, if he doesn’t miss any games in the interim, would be on pace to pass Abdul-Jabbar in a Feb. 7 home game against Oklahoma City.