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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox and Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam have been named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as injury replacements for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
The three players will replace Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (left superior tib/fib sprain), Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (right knee MCL sprain) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (strained right hamstring).
In addition, Curry, Durant and Williamson will be replaced as starters in the NBA All-Star Game by three players who were previously selected as All-Star reserves: Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.
This is the first NBA All-Star selection for both Edwards and Fox and the second for Siakam.
Edwards, the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, is posting career highs in points (24.7 ppg), rebounds (6.0 rpg), assists (4.6 apg), steals (1.66 spg), field goal percentage (46.4%) and three-point field goal percentage (36.7%) in his third NBA season. He leads the NBA in total steals (96) and minutes (2,099).
Fox is averaging 24.2 points, 6.3 assists and a career-high 4.3 rebounds while shooting a career-high 50.4% from the field in his sixth NBA season. He leads the NBA with 128 points in clutch situations, which occur when the scoring margin of a game is within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
Siakam is an NBA All-Star for the first time since the 2019-20 season, when he became the first NBA G League alum to start an NBA All-Star Game. A seven-year NBA veteran from Cameroon, he is averaging a career-high 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and a career-high 6.2 assists in an NBA-high 37.5 minutes this season.
When an All-Star starter is unable to participate in the NBA All-Star Game before the NBA All-Star Draft takes place, he is replaced in the starter pool for the Draft by the All-Star reserve from the same conference and of the same position group who had the highest weighted ranking in the voting for All-Star starters. The starter replacements are Embiid for Durant (who was in the Eastern Conference frontcourt group at the time of the voting), Markkanen for Williamson and Morant for Curry.
Embiid, Markkanen and Morant will be selected with the starters and Edwards, Fox and Siakam will be selected with the reserves in the NBA All-Star Draft presented by Jordan Brand, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. MT at Vivint Arena right before the NBA All-Star Game. TNT will air the NBA All-Star Draft live during its pregame show and then present the 72nd NBA All-Star Game, a matchup between Team LeBron and Team Giannis.