Kentucky products Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Karl-Anthony Towns were each tabbed as starters for the 2025 NBA All-Star game, it was announced Thursday night on TNT.
The duo was selected through a combined vote from fans, players and media, recognizing outstanding play during the first half of the 2024-25 NBA season.
The reimagined NBA All-Star event will take place on Feb. 16 at the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, and feature a mini tournament with four teams and three games.
Gilgeous-Alexander earns his third all-star selection overall and his second-consecutive starting nod. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard has been one of the NBA’s top stories this season, averaging a league-best 32.0 points per game to go along with 6.1 assists and 5.4 rebounds. Defensively, Gilgeous-Alexander is contributing 2.1 steals per game, the second most in the NBA behind only Dyson Daniels of Atlanta. Gilgeous-Alexander’s efforts have helped power the Thunder to an astounding 36-7 record, the top mark in the Western Conference and tied for the best record league wide. As a result of his play, Gilgeous-Alexander was named the Western Conference Player of the Month in both November and December.
In Lexington for the 2017-18 season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 assists. He was named the MVP of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, helping the Wildcats to the title with a win over Tennessee in the championship game. That year, Gilgeous-Alexander was an All-SEC Second Team selection and an All-SEC Freshman Team honoree.
In his first season with the New York Knicks, Towns is putting together one of the best campaigns of his 10-year NBA career. The forward is averaging 25.1 points, a career-high 13.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Towns’ 54.5 percent field-goal percentage matches a career best, while his 43.3 percent success rate from beyond the 3-point arc is the highest of his professional career. This year’s all-star nod is Towns’ fifth selection to the festivities and marks his first time receiving starting honors. He was also tabbed as the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December, his first time collecting the distinction.
Towns was a part of Kentucky’s historic 2014-15 squad which won its first 38 games en route to the Final Four. He was a consensus Second Team All-American and the SEC Freshman of the Year, averaging 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
With the 2025 NBA All-Star Game starters now decided, fans will now await the reserve selections, which will be announced by the league on Jan. 30.
Last season, a record-breaking seven Kentucky men’s basketball alumni were chosen as all-stars, breaking the previous All-Star Game record of four players chosen from one collegiate program.
