Victor Wembanyama headlines NBA All-Star reserves: Who else made the cut?

French sensation and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama is an All-Star for the first time, selected as a reserve for the league’s signature midseason event by a vote of Western Conference coaches. Joining Wembanyama as a West reserve are Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Williams, Anthony Edwards, Anthony Davis, James Harden and Alperen Şengün. The seven reserves from the East are Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Cade Cunningham, Damian Lillard and Tyler Herro, as selected by the conference’s coaches. Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first timers and were all selected over two guards who had a case in the East. Trae Young is leading the NBA in assists and LaMelo Ball was the top vote getter from the fans in the East, and neither was picked by the coaches. Williams and Şengün join Wemby as first-time All-Stars in the West. Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis and Dallas’ Kyrie Irving were among the notable Western players to be left out. Results of the voting on All-Star “reserves” were unveiled Thursday evening on TNT. Last week, the East’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell, and the West’s Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James were named “starters.” From this point is where the real experiment begins. For instance, five of the players named All-Star reserves will actually start a game on Feb. 16 in San Francisco, where the NBA’s big weekend will take place. How so? For the first time, the All-Star “game” is now a mini-tournament of three teams composed of the 24 stars and the team that wins the Rising Stars Challenge — which features the league’s top rookies and second-year players. All 24 All-Star players will go into a pool for picking by TNT’s three analysts — Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal — who are serving as honorary general managers for the three All-Star teams. They will divide the teams into three groups of eight All-Stars on Feb. 6 before TNT’s weekly doubleheader; obviously, with three teams of All-Stars, five “reserves” will have to be on the floor at the start of the tournament. The new format will include three games — two semifinals and the championship — in which the winner is the team to reach 40 or more points first. There is a prize money pool of $1.8 million, with the champion team earning $125,000 per player. Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault and one of his assistants, as well as Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson and one of his assistants, will each coach a team in the All-Star tournament. This story will be updated. • Why Pistons guard Cade Cunningham deserves to be an NBA All-Star this season • Tyler Herro has become Heat’s stable foundation as Jimmy Butler drama has shaken Miami’s core • Caitlin Clark will not participate in NBA All-Star Weekend 3-point challenge