Portugal Colonial - NBA All-Star captains miss events before elite showdown

James missed the NBA All-Star practice for what the league called personal reasons while Greek big man Antetokounmpo did not join his brothers in the Skills Challenge event.

Four-time NBA champion James, a 19-time All-Star, is set to speak to reporters before Sunday's game and the league said it "appeared" the injury would not keep him from playing on Sunday.

Los Angeles Lakers star James missed three games with a foot injury before playing 29 minutes on Wednesday in a victory over New Orleans.

Milwaukee Bucks star Antetokounmpo sprained his right wrist in a Thursday victory over Chicago and was replaced by NBA teammate Jrue Holiday on a Skills team with Alex and Thanasis Antetokounmpo -- with Giannis acting as coach and cheerleader.

In a revamped All-Star format started in 2018, the top vote-getters from the Eastern and Western Conference were named captains and each selected rosters from available All-Star players.

James seeks a sixth consecutive triumph in that format, having beaten clubs guided by Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Antetokounmpo.

"I'm going to try to draft a really good team," Antetokounmpo said. "We're going to play hard and hopefully we can enjoy the game and try to take them down this time."

P.Serra--PC