NBA News: Saturday, January 28th, 2023

There is going to be a ton of focus on the National Football League this weekend as there are a pair of conference championship games taking place. That doesn’t mean that the NBA is taking a backseat, though, as there have been several NBA news stories this weekend as well. 

The NBA is getting closer to All-Star Weekend, and several news stories related to that big game have been coming out. This was also a rough week for a couple of superstars, as they were given some big fines by the league. 

NBA All-Star Captains, Starters Announced

The NBA always does a great job in building up hype and excitement for the All-Star Game, and they tend to stagger the biggest announcements. This week it was time to announce the two captains that would pick the rosters, and the league also announced the five starters in each conference. 

As expected, LeBron James was the leading vote-getter again, and he will be one of the two teams captains. Giannis Antetokounmpo was chosen as the captain from the Eastern Conference after narrowly winning the vote over Kevin Durant.

Joining LeBron James as Western Conference starters are Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Zion Williamson. The other four starters in the Eastern Conference are Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, and Jayson Tatum.

The All-Star reserves are chosen by the coaches, and they will be announced next week. The two team captains are set to pick the final rosters during a live segment on the day of the game. 

Two Superstars Fined By the League

Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid are typically in the news for all of the right reasons, but that isn’t the case this weekend. Both players were fined by the league due to their action that took place earlier in the week. 

Stephen Curry was given a $25,000 fine by the NBA after he was ejected for throwing his mouthpiece during a win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Curry was upset about a shot attempt from teammate Jordan Poole and was immediately ejected when the mouthpiece went flying into the stands. 

Joel Embiid also received a $25,000 fine from the league after making an obscene gesture during a celebration last week. Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers were taking on the Brooklyn Nets in a game with plenty of excitement, and the All-Star center was caught making the gesture. Unlike Curry, Embiid was not ejected during the game. 

NBA Releases Statement on Nichols’ Death

The NBA is a league that always seems to speak up whenever there are big news stories taking place throughout the world. The senseless killing of Tyre Nichols has been all over the news of late, and the NBA released a statement on the tragedy. 

The NBA announced that it continues to speak out against injustice and also hopes to be an advocate for change in the future. Several players from the league also spoke out about the decathlon on social media.

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All Media on this page by Associated Press.