TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former NBA big Dwight Howard has been selected to be the captain for one of the teams for T1 League’s All-Star Game to be played on Feb. 28 in Taipei.
The T1 League, which is only in its second year, will play its first-ever All-Star Game at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, according to CNA. The All-Stars will be split up into Team Infinity and Team Beyond.
Howard, who plays for the Taoyuan Leopards, received the most fan votes with 46,968 and will lead Team Infinity. New Taipei’s CTBC DEA small forward Mohammed al Bachir Gadiaga received the second most votes at 44,266 and will be the captain for Team Beyond.
Each team will be comprised of 13 players, eight local and five foreign players. The head coaches for each All-Star team will come from the top two teams in the league based on standing after Feb. 5.
The starting five for Team Infinity will be Chiang Yu-an (蔣淯安), Lee Chi-wei (李啟瑋), Ku Mao Wei-chia (谷毛唯嘉), Mindaugas Kupsas, and Dwight Howard. Meanwhile, the starting lineup for Team Beyond will be Mohammed al Bachir Gadiaga, Lin Wei-han (林韋翰), Hsieh Ya-hsuan (謝亞軒), Jason Brickman, and Robert Upshaw III.
In addition to the All-Star Game, there will also be a three-point contest and a dunk contest.
“I just want to say thank you to all the fans in Taiwan who voted for me and the rest of my teammates. I really appreciate each and every one of you,” Howard said in a video on the Leopards’ Instagram account. “We’re going to go hard, we’re going to have fun, and we’re going to represent Taiwan the best way we know how.”
