### BREAKING: NBA Unveils 2025 Western Conference All-Star Starters – Curry, Shai, Durant, LeBron, Jokić Form Most Stacked Frontcourt in Modern History
**SAN FRANCISCO — December 1, 2025, 7:02 p.m. ET** – The NBA dropped the most anticipated All-Star voting returns in league history moments ago, and the Western Conference starting five is officially absurd: Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), and Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets) will start for the West in the 2025 All-Star Game, set for February 16 at Chase Center in San Francisco.
For the first time ever, the five leading vote-getters in the West are all former MVPs, combining for 10 of the last 13 Kia MVP trophies. The group has 41 All-Star selections, 4 championships since 2022 alone, and a combined 152,847 points through Sunday’s games, more career points than every Eastern Conference starting lineup in history combined.
Curry, 36, edged Shai Gilgeous-Alexander by just 41,227 fan votes to claim the final West backcourt spot, despite SGA entering the night as the betting favorite and the current MVP ladder frontrunner (+150 at DraftKings). The Warriors’ two-way supernova received a massive late surge from the Bay Area and international markets, especially China and the Philippines, where Curry’s lifetime Under Armour deal and 2016 Manila tour still resonate. Curry finished with 5,874,301 votes, the second-highest total league-wide behind only LeBron (6.1M).
Shai, who led the entire NBA in votes for three consecutive weeks, becomes the first Thunder player ever to finish top-2 in All-Star voting. The 27-year-old is averaging a career-high 32.8 points on 54/39/92 shooting splits, plus 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals while anchoring the league’s best defense (103.8 defensive rating). OKC fans flooded social media with #ShaiForStarter campaigns, but the Curry late push proved too much.
In the frontcourt, the results were never in doubt. LeBron James, at age 40 (turning 41 on December 30), will make his 21st All-Star start, breaking his own record and extending the longest starting streak in professional sports history. James is averaging 25.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 9.0 assists on 51/40/90 splits for a Lakers team sitting third in the West. Durant, 37, returns to the starting lineup after missing last year’s game with injury, averaging 28.1 points on 54.8% shooting for a Suns team that just rattled off a 14-game win streak. Jokić, the three-time MVP, collected the most frontcourt votes in the conference for the third straight year while posting a casual 29.7/13.8/10.2 triple-double average through 23 games.
The voting breakdown (released live on TNT):
– Guards: Stephen Curry (GSW) – 5,874,301 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) – 5,833,074
– Frontcourt: LeBron James (LAL) – 6,108,911 | Kevin Durant (PHX) – 5,912,338 | Nikola Jokić (DEN) – 5,789,112
Notable near-misses that immediately set r/NBATalk on fire:
– Luka Dončić finished 6th in frontcourt voting (5,611,004), missing the starting lineup by 178,108 votes to Jokić. The Slovenian wizard is averaging 33.9 points and has the Mavericks at 16-7, but the Serbian bloc in Europe and Jokić’s dominance in player and media voting proved decisive.
– Anthony Edwards (5.2M votes) and Devin Booker (4.9M) rounded out the top-10 but were never serious threats to the top five.
– Victor Wembanyama, despite a historic 2024-25 campaign (28.1 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.1 blocks), finished 8th in frontcourt voting as the 20-year-old phenomenon continues to build his global fanbase.
Social media detonated within seconds. r/NBATalk’s megathread hit 100,000 comments in 40 minutes, with the top post reading: “West starters have 10 MVPs, 4 rings, and LeBron is older than the Eastern Conference’s coach. This is not fair.” Another viral thread titled “Luka got robbed harder than 2022 WCF” already has 47k upvotes.
On the broadcast, Shaq laughed for a full 30 seconds before declaring, “That West starting five could beat half the teams in the league right now in a seven-game series.” Charles Barkley countered: “They might sweep the East All-Stars by 50 every game. I’m not even joking.”
Commissioner Adam Silver, appearing via satellite, confirmed the game will remain untimed in the fourth quarter again (Elam Ending) and hinted at a special pre-game ceremony honoring Curry playing in his hometown arena. “Chase Center was built for moments like this,” Silver said. “Having Steph, who grew up 30 minutes away in Charlotte, North Carolina… wait, geography never was my thing. You know what I mean.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, reached courtside after practice, could barely contain his grin: “I get to coach Steph, Shai, KD, LeBron, and Jokić in the same game? Sign me up for the next 10 years.” Kerr then deadpanned, “Actually, please don’t, my blood pressure can’t take it.”
The East starters, announced simultaneously, are Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid, a lineup that immediately became the butt of jokes online. One viral meme showed the West starters superimposed over the Avengers: Endgame portal scene, with the East five as the 2012 Bobcats.
Betting markets reacted instantly. DraftKings moved the West All-Stars from -6.5 to -11.5 favorites for All-Star Sunday, the largest line in a decade. Over/under for total points in the game jumped from 308.5 to 324.5.
Reserves will be announced Thursday on TNT, with Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson (East), and Victor Wembanyama considered mortal locks. Coaches reportedly already have their ballots in, and multiple GMs told ESPN that Wemby and Edwards are “100% guaranteed” despite the fan-vote snubs.
For now, the basketball world is left staring at a Western Conference starting five that might be the most talented assemblage of players ever voted into a single All-Star lineup. Ten MVP awards. Four active members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. A combined 152 playoff wins. And somehow, someway, Luka Dončić isn’t even starting.
February 16 in San Francisco can’t come soon enough.
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