Warriors' Andrew Wiggins, Grizzlies' Ja Morant named All-Star starters

The Western Conference starter pool for next month’s NBA All-Star Game included a big surprise.

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was chosen along with LeBron James and Nikola Jokic among Western Conference frontcourt candidate. Ja Morant was also named a starter for the first time, joining Stephen Curry as the backcourt duo in the starter pool, per an announcement from NBA Communications. James will be a team captain once again because he is the All-Star starter from the West with the most fan votes in the West.

Wiggins was third in the most recent fan voting results among Western Conference frontcourt players, but the fan vote counted for only 50% in the selection. Player voting accounted for 25%, and the media also had a 25% say.

Wiggins is averaging 18.1 points per game. He beat out more decorated Western Conference frontcourt players such as Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, Deandre Ayton, Karl-Anthony Towns and Draymond Green.

Morant’s selection is much less controversial. He’s averaging 25.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.9 rebounds per contest. However, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell and Suns guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul also had compelling cases to be starters.