James Harden has been named a starter for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, the league announced Thursday.
It’s the second consecutive year the Houston Rockets guard has been voted a starter for the game, which takes place Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.
Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote, and current players, as well as a panel of basketball media, accounted for 25 percent each. Under a new All-Star Game format, two captains -- the leading vote-getters from the Western and Eastern conferences -- will choose the rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves. This year's captains are Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Cleveland’s LeBron James.
Harden has been named an All-Star in all six of his seasons with Houston. He leads the NBA in scoring with 32.3 points per game and ranks third in assists with 9.1 per game.
Harden still ranks second in the NBA in 3-pointers with 145, despite missing the past seven games due to injury. He hit at least six 3-pointers in an league-record five-straight games from Nov. 1 to Nov. 11, 2017. No other NBA player in league history has a streak longer than three games.
