Pierce pitched the Thunder to trade Chet Holmgren for Kevin Durant, which sparked a loud conversation across the media. Former NBA guard Jeff Teague took to the "Club 520 Podcast" to make his strong opinion known of the trade.

Maybe it will go in. It’s three points. I think it can help us.”

Still, Hall of Fame NBA player Paul Pierce had an idea for the Thunder -- trade Holmgren for Kevin Durant. The 36-year-old forward is still playing at an MVP-caliber level, and Pierce's reasoning was that Holmgren has hardly played in Oklahoma City's remarkable campaign thus far.

Shai joined Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant as the only Thunder players to score at least 50 points in a single game.

The players announced to start for the Western Conference are Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Gilgeous-Alexander took a break to start the final quarter, and the Thunder led 102-99 when he checked back in. He hit a 3-pointer that gave OKC a 115-106 lead and secured his career night. He then scored his 50th point on a pull-up jumper over Lauri Markkanen with 1:28 to go that gave the Thunder a 119-110 lead.

While both sides have fully moved on, Kevin Durant's departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder left a scar that's occasionally visible. The shocking 2016 decision to leave OKC for the Golden State Warriors traumatized an entire fanbase as the first time they were introduced to how brutal the NBA business can be.

Wembanyama becomes only the fourth Spurs player to make the All-Star Game in his first or second season. The others: Alvin Robertson in 1986, David Robinson in 1990 and 1991, and Tim Duncan in 1998.

For the West guards, the player who obtained the most votes and who will start in back-to-back All-Star games is none other than Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. S

Coaches selected the reserves after the 10 names for the starters pool were announced last week through a combination of fan voting (50%), media voting (25%) and active player voting (25%).

The NBA head coaches have to pick two guards, three frontcourt players and two "wild card" players at any position for the reserves. The West All-Stars have five frontcourt reserves in Davis, Jackson Jr., Sengun, Wembanyama and Jalen Williams.