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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

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NBA Unveils 2025 All-Star Game Starters

January 23rd, 2025 at 7:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 2025 All-Star Game starters were revealed on Thursday during Inside the NBA’s pregame show and confirmed by the NBA on social media (Twitter links).

In the Eastern Conference, a pair of Knicks made the cut, with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns – in his first season in New York – earning nods. Joining Brunson in the backcourt is Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, while Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo secured frontcourt spots.

Lakers star LeBron James extended his all-time record to 21 consecutive All-Star selections in the Western Conference. Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accounted for the backcourt spots in the West while Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Kevin Durant of the Suns joined James as frontcourt starters.

The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.

The reserves, who are picked by the league’s coaches, will be announced on Jan. 30. LaMelo Ball of the Hornets narrowly missed out on being a starter after ranking first in the fan vote, having finished third in player voting and seventh in the media vote. The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama also barely missed out, finishing second in media voting but fourth for both players and fans.

Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, De’Aaron Fox, Devin Booker, Norman Powell, Anthony Davis, Jalen Williams, Alperen Sengun, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland, Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro, Evan Mobley and Jaylen Brown are among the names who could be voted in as reserves.

The 74th NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 16 will feature a new format, complete with a mini-tournament composed of four teams and three games. Two teams will meet in a semifinal while the other two will play in another. The victors in each of those games will meet in a final. The winner of each game is the first to 40 points.

The format change means that the 10 players named starters on Thursday won’t be the only players who actually start on All-Star Sunday. The 24 players ultimately named All-Stars will be split among three eight-man teams, with the roster’s drafted by Inside the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

The draft will air on Feb. 6 on TNT. The fourth team of eight players will be made up of the winning team from the Rising Stars event.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

The full voting results can be found here.

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And-Ones: All-Star Game, Fernando, Snyder, NBRPA, Woj

January 22nd, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Six NBA reporters at The Athletic, including Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon, made their picks for the Eastern and Western Conference All-Star starters, with all six writers selecting the same three frontcourt players in the East: Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were the only unanimous choices in the West. Meanwhile, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama each showed up on all but one of the six ballots from The Athletic’s reporters.

The NBA will officially announce this year’s All-Star starters on Thursday evening during a TNT broadcast. The starters are determined by votes from fans (50%), players (25%), and the media (25%).

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran NBA big man Bruno Fernando, who was waived earlier this month by Toronto before his full-season salary could become guaranteed, is in talks with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, as Michalis Gioylenoglou reports for Eurohoops.net. Gioylenoglou describes Fernando as becoming more open to making the move to Europe after having initially been reluctant to head across the Atlantic. However, no deal is done yet.
  • Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is among the candidates receiving serious consideration to become the next coach of Australia’s national team, sources tell Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The Boomers are seeking a successor to Brian Goorjian, who coached the national team at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
  • Former NBA big man Antonio Davis, who appeared in over 900 games from 1993-2006 and made an All-Star team with Toronto in 2001, has been named the CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). According to Spears, Davis will “drive the strategic visions, business operations, member services, and growth” of the NBRPA, a non-profit association representing former NBA players.
  • In a feature story for The New York Times, Bruce Schoenfeld checks in on Adrian Wojnarowski, exploring why the former star news-breaker, who was making $7.3MM annually at ESPN, accepted a job at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, that pays him about one percent of that amount ($75K per year).
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Knicks Notes: Hart, All-Stars, McBride, Robinson, Centers

January 4th, 2025 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks forward Josh Hart is having the best season of his nine-year NBA career, averaging personal bests of 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, along with a career-high 57.1% mark on field goal attempts. His 14.6 points per game and 38.2% three-point rate are also well above his career rates, and he has been a positive asset defensively for the 24-11 Knicks.

As Steve Popper of Newsday writes, teammate Karl-Anthony Towns believes Hart has a real All-Star case. Hart himself is less convinced — and suggested he’d be perfectly happy to be excluded and take advantage of his vacation time during All-Star week.

“I can get an All-Star? Hell no,” Hart said. “I feel like they appreciate what I do but like I said, my game is not glitz and glamour that breeds that kind of accolade. And I’m fine with that. I’m a servant to these guys. I want to make sure they’re good. I want them to get the accolades. I want to have my toes to touch some sand come February.”

Hart admitted it would be “amazing” to earn All-Star recognition, but he pointed to Jalen Brunson and Towns as the Knicks’ likely representatives and made a case for the team’s other two starters ahead of himself.

“(Mikal Bridges) and OG (Anunoby) would be more than deserving,” Hart said. “I think that’s on us to continue to win and continue to highlight those guys and show what they can do on both sides of the ball. So we got to continue to win for that to happen and make sure we sacrifice so those guys can be in that position.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • In a battle of red-hot clubs, the Knicks had their nine-game winning streak snapped on Friday by a Thunder team that won its ninth straight contest. James L. Edwards III of The Athletic takes a closer look at the matchup, writing that the Knicks continue to trend in the right direction despite being unable to record a signature win.
  • Knicks guard Miles McBride missed a second consecutive game on Friday due to a hamstring strain. Referring to the injury as “frustrating”, he told Stefan Bondy of The New York Post that he’s playing it safe with his recovery because he doesn’t want to risk making things worse. “Just seeing how it feels. It’s tough with hamstrings,” McBride said. “Those type of injuries, you don’t want to rush it. But I’m progressing.”
  • A number of teams have been inquiring about the health of Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who says three clubs he spoke to recently didn’t gain any clarity on the subject. Although Robinson is a potential trade candidate, Begley believes New York’s preferred outcome would be for the big man to get healthy and finish out the season with the team, since his value on the court would exceed his value on the trade market due to concerns about his surgically repaired feet.
  • If the Knicks aren’t confident about Robinson’s ability to get healthy and stay healthy, Jonas Valanciunas, Goga Bitadze, and Nick Richards are among the centers the team may be interested in, Begley says, noting that all three of those big man were on New York’s radar last summer.
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Atlantic Notes: Kolek, Knicks’ Starting Five, Quickley, Lewis

January 2nd, 2025 at 9:43am CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks rookie guard Tyler Kolek played a doubleheader on Wednesday. He saw 40 minutes of action with the G League Westchester Knicks during the afternoon, then received 12 minutes of action with the NBA club. The Knicks needed him because Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride sat out.

“It’s fun, man, I love playing basketball. Any chance I get, I’m going to take the opportunity and do it,” Kolek told Peter Botte of the New York Post. “It was good. I had a few hours in between. … Just tried to do what I could to recover and just be ready to go. It’s more mental than anything. Obviously two guys go out with injuries, so you kind of got to step in and be ready for anything no matter the circumstances.” 

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Though Brunson sat out Monday, the Knicks’ usual starting five of OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges has totaled a league-high 561 minutes together, Botte points out. The team’s starting five has a strong net rating of +6.6, despite having to adjust to newcomers Towns and Bridges. New York has won nine straight.
  • The Raptors snapped an 11-game losing streak, coinciding with the return of  Immanuel Quickley, who hadn’t played since Nov. 10 due to a partially torn ulnar cruciate ligament in his left elbow. Quickley supplied 21 points and 15 assists in 32 minutes against the Nets. “It allows Scottie (Barnes) to play with more force as a secondary guy — not to bring the ball every single time, not trying to get the team organized in a set,” coach Darko Rajaković said, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic. “It really helps. I’m … really excited to see Quickley being in that role, more pushing the ball and opening up the court for Scottie as well.”
  • In his first game with the Nets after getting traded by the Lakers, forward Maxwell Lewis suffered a left leg injury. He’ll have an MRI today, according to Brian Lewis of the New York  Post. “The toughest part of today is seeing one of your guys going down. We’re all, thinking about the kid, Max,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We don’t know the extent of the injury. Obviously, we’ll MRI, but all our group was thinking about him, and we’re sending all positive energy. So, that’s what’s more important. The rest of the game doesn’t matter right now.”
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Knicks Notes: Shamet, Towns, Brunson, Robinson

December 29th, 2024 at 11:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Now that he’s back with the Knicks, Landry Shamet talked to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post about the injury that nearly cost him his latest NBA opportunity. Shamet was on his way to earning a roster spot in October when he dislocated his shoulder four days before the final cuts had to be made. Because his contract wasn’t guaranteed, the team let him go to give him time to heal, then re-signed him last week.

“There’s stretches in the first week where it’s just really acute and I can’t even lift my arm to wash under my arms or brush my teeth,” Shamet said. “There’s periods of time where you’re like, ‘God,’ And that’s what I talk about with the mental piece. Not only are you dealing with injury, rehabbing something you’ve never dealt with before, but now you’re away from your teams, kind of out of rhythm. So that part could be challenging. And there were days for sure where it was pretty bleak. Like, ‘Groundhog Day.’ Like, ‘Ahh, we’re still here. It still hurts.’ But then you had days where there were big jumps and you’re like, ‘OK.’ So both feelings were prevalent.”

Shamet could have opted for surgery, but after consulting with doctors he chose to let the shoulder heal naturally so he could resume playing more quickly. Bondy notes that the non-surgical path was a risky option, and it didn’t work for Julius Randle when he suffered a similar injury last season.

Shamet has seen his playing time gradually increase in his three games since returning, and he appears headed for a place in the rotation after posting seven points and two steals in 10 minutes Friday night. Shamet provides another veteran at the wing who can help reduce the burden on the starting lineup.

There’s more from New York:

  • Karl-Anthony Towns has been a tremendous addition for the Knicks, but he hasn’t been able to shake the foul problems that often plagued him in Minnesota, Bondy notes in a separate story. Coach Tom Thibodeau wants Towns to be more focused about avoiding unnecessary fouls that can force him to come out of games. “There’s good aggressive fouls and there’s fouls that are obviously cheap that you have to clean up,” Thibodeau said. “I think that’s the important thing for him to understand — the difference between the two and how it’s being called.”
  • Jalen Brunson heard some “MVP” chants Saturday night at Washington as he scored 55 points in an overtime victory, per Steve Popper of Newsday. It was Brunson’s third 50-point game since joining the Knicks, which ties him for second in franchise history. “We needed it,” Josh Hart said. “This one was a tough one for us. Back-to-back. I felt a little old today. So a lot of us felt the same way. We were a little slow. But he made big shots. That’s why he’s the captain. Find a way to win.”
  • It looks like Mitchell Robinson will be sidelined until at least late January, so it could be hard to trade him by the February 6 deadline, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic states in a mailbag column. Edwards expects the Knicks to look for another center on the trade market, and he suggests that Isaiah Stewart would fit well with the current roster if the Pistons would accept Robinson and Precious Achiuwa in return.
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Knicks Notes: Towns, Brunson, Shamet, Sims

December 25th, 2024 at 1:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Karl-Anthony Towns has played on Christmas Day before, but this year’s game is special because it’s at Madison Square Garden, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Towns, who grew up in the New York area, was always far from home in his previous Christmas contests, but an offseason trade to the Knicks has him playing in front of family members and friends.

“It’s my first one home,” he said. “I never got to do that. So this is going to be fun, to be able to do it in front of your family. It’s crazy for me growing up in this area and to be watching the Knicks always play on Christmas Day, watching [Carmelo Anthony] go crazy on Christmas Day. And now to be in a position where I get to have my name in the history of Knicks players to play on Christmas, it’s a huge honor.” 

Braziller notes that Christmas Day games have been a tradition for the Knicks dating back to 1947, and today’s contest marks their 12th one in the past 15 years. Although some NBA players would prefer to be off for the holiday, Towns considers it an honor to be included.

“I like playing basketball. It’s a great Christmas present for me,” he said. “I get to go out there and lace the shoes up and play. So I’m excited.” 

There’s more from New York:

  • Offseason trades for Towns and Mikal Bridges have made the Knicks less reliant on Jalen Brunson to carry the offense, Braziller adds in a separate story. The latest example came Monday when they comfortably beat Toronto despite an off night from Brunson, who was limited to 12 points while shooting 4-of-13 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc. Brunson is taking 4.4 fewer shots per game than he did last season, but his shooting percentages and assist rate have improved. “I think it’s going to open it up for him even more,” Bridges said. “When you have to respect everybody, you can’t help as much. You don’t help, it’s going to be tough to guard him. Just trying to keep teams honest, so they have to play straight up, and that’s when JB will be in kill mode.” 
  • Landry Shamet only played one minute in his first game back with the Knicks, but Ian Begley of SNY states in a mailbag column that he’s likely to get a chance to earn a spot in the rotation. Begley points out that the team has one of the lowest-scoring bench units in the league and suggests that Shamet may be able to ease the burden on the starting guards and wings.
  • The Knicks were asking for at least two second-round picks in return for backup center Jericho Sims when teams inquired about him during the offseason, Begley adds. Sims may be expendable once Mitchell Robinson returns from offseason ankle surgery.
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Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Brunson, Thibodeau, Barnes

December 15th, 2024 at 1:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

It has been a roller coaster ride for Nets shooting guard Keon Johnson over the past year-plus, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Times (subscriber link), who notes that the former No. 21 overall pick was out of work when last season began before catching on with Brooklyn on a two-way deal in November.

The 6’5″ Tennessee alum earned a promotion to a standard partially guaranteed contract over the summer and is now a part of head coach Jordi Fernandez‘s rotation as he looks to hang onto his roster spot through the league-wide salary guarantee date of January 7, Lewis writes.

Through 23 contests so far, Johnson is averaging 6.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.5 steals per contest, with a shooting line of .355/.315/.750. Although he had a couple DNP-CDs earlier in the season, he has been part of Brooklyn’s starting lineup for the past four games.

“I think good things happen to players that work really hard and they do whatever it takes for the team — Keon has been doing it,” Fernandez said. “And he’s not the only one right now. He’s in this position … because he deserves it. He still has work to do and improve, but I’m very happy with him. He’s a guy that can be very, very, very good defensively. He’s able to catch and shoot, he’s an amazing athlete, and all those things so far are important for us.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Former Knicks starting center Isaiah Hartenstein, who departed for Oklahoma City in free agency this summer, claimed he wouldn’t have let All-Star Hawks point guard Trae Young celebrate his NBA Cup victory atop the team’s logo on the Madison Square Garden court. All-NBA Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson had a succinct retort when asked about his former teammate’s comments, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. “Isaiah isn’t here,” Brunson said.
  • Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau disputes the notion that his team has struggled defensively, Braziller writes in another New York Post story. “I think we’re top 10 in points allowed, we’re [12th] in points in the paint, we’re fifth in fast-break points allowed, we’re top five in second-chance points allowed, so those are all good markers,” Thibodeau said. “Defensive field goal percentage the last 10 games has been good. I think we’re 13th [overall]. It’s all moving in the right direction. Can it be better? Yes, and that’s what we’re aiming for.” Braziller notes that the team, which brought in All-Defensive Team forward Mikal Bridges and All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns in separate offseason trades, currently ranks 16th in defensive rating, a dip from its ninth-place finish in 2023/24.
  • Fourth-year All-Star Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was able to go through a light workout on Sunday with Toronto assistant coaches, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Barnes injured his right ankle in a 113-108 loss to the Knicks on Monday, and it is anticipated that he will be sidelined for multiple weeks. Toronto’s best two-way player, Barnes is averaging 20.6 points, 8.4 boards, 7.4 dimes, 1.3 steals and 0.7 rejections in his 14 healthy games for the 7-19 squad.
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Knicks Notes: Cup Loss, Brunson, Inconsistency, Bridges, Nnaji

December 12th, 2024 at 2:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks were eliminated from NBA Cup contention with their 108-100 home loss to the Hawks on Wednesday. They shot 26% on 3-point attempts and 60% on free throw tries. They also gave up 22 offensive rebounds, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes.

“Finishing possessions defensively [was a problem],” Jalen Brunson said. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds. Just unacceptable.”

Brunson was held to 14 points.

“Just wasn’t our night,” Brunson said. “Just wasn’t my night offensively. They got out in transition and Trae (Young) hit a couple key threes and once it went to a double-digit lead for them and they played well with a lead.”

We have more on the Knicks:

  • The loss to Atlanta is more proof that the Knicks are nowhere close to being in the conversation as a potential NBA champion, James Edwards III of The Athletic opines. They have been unable to string together consistent quality performances, instead looking like world-beaters one game, then falling to mediocre or bad teams the next game. The blockbuster moves they made were supposed to make them a great team, but so far they’ve just been a good one, Edwards adds.
  • On a positive note, Mikal Bridges seems to be settling in. Bridges, who has averaged 21.8 points over his last six games, had been benched for the better part of two fourth quarters during a four-game stretch in late November, Peter Botte of the New York Post points out.
  • The Knicks acquired the rights to big man James Nnaji in the Karl-Anthony Towns deal after Charlotte drafted him in 2023. Nnaji is playing for Basquet Girona and averaging 7.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per night, according to Toni Canyameras of MundoDeportivo.com. “The front office is following his progress. I’ll dig deeper into him in the summer, but I’m obviously excited to have his rights,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.
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Knicks Notes: Brunson, Sims, Barrett, Towns

December 10th, 2024 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Jalen Brunson‘s scoring average is down from his career high of 28.7 points per game in 2023/24 to 25.2 PPG through his first 24 games this season, but the Knicks star is otherwise playing even better than he did a year ago, when he finished fifth in MVP voting, contends James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

Brunson’s shooting percentages are up to 49.6% from the floor and a career-best 43.2% on three-pointers. And perhaps most notably, he’s averaging a career-high 7.8 assists per game. That can be attributed in part to playing with another elite scorer and shooter like Karl-Anthony Towns and in part to Brunson’s improving ability to deal with defenses that have employed blitzes, hedges, and double-teams in an effort to slow him down.

“It’s been happening a lot more recently,” Brunson said of that defensive pressure. “I’ve always worked on stuff like that. I just like to trust my reads and my instincts.”

If Brunson continues to play like he has so far, he figures to show up on plenty of MVP ballots again in the spring, but he and head coach Tom Thibodeau are more focused on making sure the Knicks continue to generate efficient shots and win games. New York’s offensive rating is an NBA-best 121.0 and the team continues to move up the standings in the Eastern Conference, sitting at 15-9 after a win over Toronto last night.

“(Brunson)’s 10, 11 (assists) every night now,” Thibodeau said on Monday, per Edwards. “He’s creating a lot of good offense for us. Everyone shares in that responsibility. Read the game and don’t hold on to the ball too long. If you’re open, I want you to shoot. If you’re not open, I don’t want you to overdribble, either. Just read what they’re doing. When you have players who play for each other and play unselfishly, you’re going to get high-percentage shots from that.”

We have more on the Knicks:

  • After playing just three minutes on Thursday and six on Saturday, Jericho Sims was a DNP-CD on Monday in Toronto for the first time this season, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. As Bondy notes, Sims has played strong defense for the Knicks this fall, but looked lost on offense in his previous two outings. As long as Precious Achiuwa is available, Sims may not be a regular part of Thibodeau’s rotation.
  • Raptors forward RJ Barrett, who faced his former team on Monday nearly a year after being traded from New York to Toronto, told reporters that he wasn’t shocked when he was moved: “You can tell when you’re treated a certain way.” As Bondy observes, Barrett’s shot attempts and scoring average declined during his final year with the Knicks as he became a third option on offense behind Brunson and Julius Randle. “Lots of stuff (gave me that vibe that I was going to be traded). Lots of stuff,” Barrett said. “I think I just got a vibe, kind of figured. I wasn’t really too surprised when it happened.”
  • John Calipari, who coached Towns at Kentucky, helped the former Wildcat get over the initial shock of being traded from Minnesota to New York earlier this fall, as Bondy details in a separate New York Post story. “First of all, you’re surprised when you’re an All-Star and you’re traded. And then the second thing is, you’re going to be hurt,” Calipari said. “Why did they do it? Why would they do it? And in the end, that’s why I told him, ‘Please, (the Knicks) are perfect for you. Don’t worry about all the other stuff. Move on. … No looking back. You’re not bitter. You’re on to the next thing.'”
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