Duke basketball star Kyrie Irving named All-Star Game starter

Duke basketball star Kyrie Irving was named as a starter for the NBA All-Star Game. 

At least one former Duke basketball star will be at the highly scrutinized NBA All-Star Game.

Former Blue Devil, and current Brooklyn Net, Kyrie Irving was announced as a starter for the midseason exhibition on Thursday night.

Fans, current NBA players, and media members voted for the 10 starters as Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Brooklyn Nets standout Kevin Durant were voted as captains and will draft teams once the full pool of players has been announced.

Irving earned the second-most fan votes of Eastern Conference guards, only trailing Washington Wizards standout Bradley Beal.

Kyrie Irving will be making his seventh All-Star Game appearance as the point guard was named as the 2014 All-Star Game MVP.

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The former Blue Devil is averaging 28.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 53.4 percent from the field and 44.2 percent from 3-point range.

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will feature an Elam Ending scoring, which was implemented last year as the target score will be 24 in honor of the late Kobe Bryant.

All of the events that are typically on All-Star Saturday night will now take place on the day of the game, including the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest prior to tip-off and the Dunk Contest at halftime.

Also, more than $2.5 million will be donated to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) plus COVID-19 care, relief, and vaccines.

More Duke basketball stars could be selected as reserves

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and New Orleans Pelicans standouts Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram were in the Top-10 in fan voting in the frontcourt of their respective conferences, and all three players should be All-Stars.

Tatum and Ingram were selected to their first All-Star Game last season while Williamson is looking for his first All-Star nod in his first full NBA season.

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Former Blue Devil, and current head coach of the Utah Jazz, Quin Snyder will be the head coach of Team LeBron.

The NBA All-Star reserves will be announced on Tuesday, February 23 at 7:00pm EST (TNT) while the 2021 NBA All-Star Draft will be on Thursday, March 4 at 8:00pm EST (TNT).

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia (TNT).