Starters for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game will be revealed at 7 p.m. Eastern Thursday on TNT’s “NBA Tip-Off” show, and once again, we’re set for a change in format.

For the first time, the “game” will consist of a mini-tournament, with four teams (three featuring 24 All-Star selections and the fourth being the winner of the Rising Stars competition) and three games. The two winners of the semifinal matchups will meet in the championship, and for each game, the first team to reach 40 points will be declared the winner.

Fan voting accounted for 50 percent of the tally when it came to choosing starters. Current NBA players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each. Reserves will be announced on Jan. 30, but six of The Athletic’s writers — Joe Vardon, Eric Koreen, Josh Robbins, Sam Amick, Will Guillory and Fred Katz — who participated in the media panel shared their ballots for starters below, along with some thoughts behind those tough decisions.

Joe Vardon

East backcourt: Donovan Mitchell, Cade Cunningham
East frontcourt: Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns
West backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry
West frontcourt: Nikola Jokić, LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama

You could make arguments against a number of my picks. I promise you, I argued with myself. Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić, Antetokounmpo and Tatum — those picks are unimpeachable. As for the rest, my picks were a mix of who deserves it now, with a mix of legacy considerations and an answer to a simple question: Who do I want to see in the game?

In the East, Mitchell is (barely) the best player statistically on the best team (by far) in the conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cunningham should be considered for Most Improved Player, and I think he has the most complete game among All-Star-caliber guards; plus, he’s led the resurgence of the Detroit Pistons. Towns is enjoying a dominant season on a team of stars in New York, so I gave him the edge over Evan Mobley.

The West, phew, I could’ve used another vote in the frontcourt. James is, in my opinion, the greatest player of all time. At age 40, he’s still averaging nearly 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. He’s also started an NBA record 20 consecutive All-Star Games, a record that won’t be broken because of me. Wembanyama is the most exciting player in the league and a statistical marvel, a lock, I should think, for Defensive Player of the Year, and the Spurs are much better. All of it made for a painful non-vote for the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant, another all-time great who is enjoying a fine statistical campaign. Curry over Luka Dončić came down to two things: I want Curry, as de facto host for All-Star Weekend, to be a starter, and Dončić has played far fewer games because of injury.

Eric Koreen

East backcourt: Jalen Brunson, Darius Garland
East frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns
West backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards
West frontcourt: Nikola Jokić, Anthony Davis, Victor Wembanyama

Brunson, Antetokounmpo, Tatum, Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić were all gimmes, so let’s go one by one on the other picks.

East backcourt: Garland and Cavaliers teammate Mitchell are in a vote-splitting scenario, and I believe Mitchell is Cleveland’s most indispensable player. But Garland is having the better season, based on efficiency and playmaking, and it’s not especially close.

East frontcourt: I tried like hell to make a case for Mobley, even if I don’t love the idea that great teams “should get X number of starters.” Towns has played more minutes than him, though, and is having as dominant of an offensive season as Mobley is having on the other end. And Mobley has help patrolling the paint with Jarrett Allen. It’s close, but I couldn’t leave out KAT.

West backcourt: It’s a coin flip between Edwards and De’Aaron Fox. Either answer is fine, with Curry not being close enough in minutes for consideration. I think Edwards has the slightly tougher job and brings a little more on defense.

West frontcourt: A long, long list for the final two spots, which ultimately came down for me to Davis, Wembanyama and Domantas Sabonis. As always, Sabonis’ numbers are insane. Of the seven candidates I considered for these spots, he ranked first in minutes, assists, rebounds and true shooting percentage. And yet, what Davis and especially Wembanyama do defensively is spectacular, and their offensive loads are formidable enough to counter the Sacramento Kings center’s statistical dominance on three teams with similar records. Apologies to Alperen Şengün, Jaren Jackson Jr., Kevin Durant, Jalen Williams and that LeBron guy.

Josh Robbins

East backcourt: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson
East frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns
West backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards
West frontcourt: Nikola Jokić, Anthony Davis, Victor Wembanyama

In the East, my choices are fairly straightforward.

Mitchell has been the indispensable scorer on the East’s best team. Brunson earns the nod here as my second East backcourt starter because of his overall efficiency and floor generalship. I recognize the Charlotte Hornets’ LaMelo Ball leads East guards in scoring, but that’s a result of hoisting more attempts than any of his peers.

My top two choices for the East frontcourt, Antetokounmpo and Tatum, are no-brainers. Antetokounmpo was leading the East in scoring and ranked second in the conference in rebounding at the time I submitted my vote on Sunday, and he plays a crucial defensive role for Milwaukee. Tatum remains the best player on what has been the East’s second-best team so far. The tougher choice was Towns as the third frontcourt starter; he edged out Mobley because, despite Mobley’s extreme value on defense and improvement on offense, Towns’ scoring, rebounding and 3-point shooting percentage have been too outstanding to overcome. Orlando’s Franz Wagner would’ve been in play here, but his mid-December oblique injury has limited him to 25 games.

If we were voting for league MVP right now, Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić would finish first and second, respectively, on my ballot. No surprise, then, that they’re easy choices to start in the West.

The second backcourt choice is where things got difficult. Edwards earns the nod over Curry because Edwards is outscoring Curry and outshooting Curry from 3 and also is the better defender. (Yes, I know the All-Star Game will be played in Curry’s home arena, but I left sentimentality out of this.) And apologies to Dončić, who isn’t on my ballot because he’s played in only 22 games.

I don’t feel good about omitting Durant from the frontcourt. He remains the second-best frontcourt offensive player in the West, trailing only Jokić. But Davis and Wembanyama have been comparable offensively, and they’re also elite defenders, so they get the edge.

Could Kevin Durant or Victor Wembanyama be on the outside looking in when it comes to All-Star starters? It’s possible. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)

Sam Amick

East backcourt: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson
East frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum
West backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards
West frontcourt: Nikola Jokić, Anthony Davis, Victor Wembanyama

Choosing Edwards over Curry in the West backcourt felt wrong because of the event’s location, but the Timberwolves star has been objectively better, and that factor simply shouldn’t matter here. Through Monday’s games, Edwards was one of only eight players averaging at least 26 points, five rebounds and four assists — and Curry wasn’t one of the others.

The second-toughest choice was Davis boxing out Durant in the West frontcourt, but it’s well deserved. Not only has the Lakers star played more games, but also he has been more dominant for a better team. Through Monday, Davis is one of just four players averaging at least 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists (Towns, Jokić and Antetokounmpo are the others). Beyond Durant’s elite individual production, his best All-Star argument early this season was that the Suns were 13-2 with him and 1-9 when he was out. That trend has changed for the worse, though, as Phoenix has lost 10 of its last 17 games with him on the floor.

For those asking where King James is on my list, the harsh truth is that there’s just no way I’m voting for two Lakers. And while James’ play has been historic for someone his age, that’s not the calculus here. He’s simply not a top-five player in the West at the moment.

Will Guillory

East backcourt: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson
East frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum
West backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards
West frontcourt: Nikola Jokić, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis

In the East, all five guys were pretty much no-brainers. Mitchell and Brunson are unquestionably the two best guards in the East. Antetokounmpo and Tatum may be the two best forwards in the NBA. And Towns is having the best season of his career. If Joel Embiid were healthy enough to be on the ballot, it would’ve been extremely difficult to remove one of those three guys, but that won’t be an issue this year.

In the West, Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way as the MVP front-runner. Jokić is having another sensational season and remains in the mix for an unprecedented fourth MVP in the last five seasons. I didn’t feel great putting Edwards over Curry, considering Curry will be the face of All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. Still, Edwards has produced at a higher rate, and he’s the one leading the NBA in 3-pointers this season.

Even though Durant has already missed 10 games because of injury, he’s having another monster year. I went back and forth over the final spot and whether it should go to Davis or James. I ultimately went with Davis because he makes such a huge impact on defense, and he’s been more explosive as a scorer. I really wanted to sneak Wembanyama on my ballot because he’s such a remarkable talent, but it just felt a little too early for him to be a starter.

Fred Katz

East backcourt: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson
East frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum
West backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards
West frontcourt: Nikola Jokić, Kevin Durant, Victor Wembanyama

The East was smooth. It was in the West where I ran into trouble. My final guard candidates came down to Edwards, Kyrie Irving and Curry, and based on the situation, I went with Edwards, who has played every game so far this season, an accomplishment on its own. His job got more difficult this season, when the Timberwolves scrunched their spacing after the Towns trade. He’s renovated his shot profile in response, taking way more 3s and still hitting 42 percent of them. Curry remains magnificent, and Irving has actually been the more efficient scorer than Edwards, but the Wolves wing just barely gets the edge.

At frontcourt, Durant has played enough (32 games) to warrant a nod. The Suns may be disappointing, but Durant is having another typically dominant season. My final spot came down to Wembanyama or Davis. Wembanyama’s highs are higher, but his lows are lower. He still commits turnovers he shouldn’t and every once in a while will chuck up a shot that’s as good as a giveaway. But I went with a tiebreaker: Wembanyama has the most game-changing skill of the two, scaring offenses away from what, against any other team, would be comfortable shots. No one, including the dominant Davis, impacts a defense the way Wembanyama does. He gets the nod, but I don’t feel great about leaving Davis off.

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(Top photo of Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Joshua Gately / Getty Images)