LeBron James And Kevin Durant Headline NBA All Stars; Steph Curry, Kevin Love Named First Time Starters

The 2014 NBA All-Star Game is perhaps the most intriguing showcase game of the four major sports due to the fact that some of the most high-profile athletes in professional sports play in the National Basketball Association. While the NFL, NHL and MLB All-Star games certainly provide their fair share of entertainment -- with the NFL ushering in a first-ever player draft for this season's contest -- the NBA provides fans with tons of high-flying action and offensive explosiveness, something most basketball loyalists love to see on a regular basis.

With the 2014 game set to be played on Feb. 16 in New Orleans, the league announced the starters for both the Eastern and Western Conferences and to no surprise, some of the most popular names in the game landed on their respective sides' opening five. The 2014 leading vote-getter was four-time League MVP and two-time NBA Champion LeBron James of the Miami Heat. James earned 1,416,419 million votes, beating out Western Conference starter Kevin Durant, who earned 1,396,294. Heat teammate Dwyane Wade joins LeBron in the starting rotation for the Eastern Conference with first-timers Kyrie Irving and Paul George cracking the starting line-up as well. New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who earned over 935,000 votes, rounds out the East's starting unit.

Adding to the total of four first-time All-Stars, Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry and Minnesota Timberwolves big man Kevin Love cracked into the starting five of the Western Conference All-Star squad with Durant and Blake Griffin joining them. Kobe Bryant -- who was elected by fans to his 16th All-Star appearance after appearing in just six games this season due to injury -- will not be able to participate in the All-Star events from a physical standpoint. Excited about the opportunity to make his first-career All-Star start, Steph Curry told reporters that he's going to enjoy the moment and take in the entire experience with his wife and daughter.

“It's kind of just a surreal feeling,” the former Davidson University standout said. “I aw Kobe come on the screen and you knew that next person on the screen was going to be me or I was going to get left off that list. Just when I saw my name it as a real emotional kind of experience and glad my wife and daughter were here to watch it with me.” The reserve players for the 2014 All-Star game will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 30.