"Mark Daigneault of Thunder receives All-Star coaching recognition"

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was selected to lead one of the four teams in the All-Star Game on Feb. 16 in San Francisco.

Daigneault received his first All-Star Game head coaching invitation after the Thunder secured the top record in the Western Conference as of Feb. 2. They improved to 35-7 with a dominant 127-101 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

During his five-year tenure as head coach of the Thunder, Daigneault has amassed a record of 177-182 and led his team to the playoffs last season. He is the first Oklahoma City head coach to receive this honor since Scott Brooks in the 2013-14 season.

Also see this picks: Dallas Mavericks vs. Charlotte Hornets Pick & Prediction JANUARY 20th 2025 Also see this picks: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies Pick & Prediction JANUARY 20th 2025

This selection for Daigneault also guarantees that one of the Thunder's assistant coaches will lead another team in the NBA All-Star Game. The head coach and an assistant from the Eastern Conference team with the best record as of Feb. 2 will coach the remaining two teams.

This season, the NBA has implemented a new one-night All-Star Game tournament, with three teams consisting of eight All-Stars drafted by former NBA players Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O'Neal from "Inside the NBA."

The fourth team in the All-Star Game tournament will be determined by the winner of the Rising Stars challenge, a competition between first- and second-year players.

Last year's All-Star Game received widespread criticism despite returning to the traditional East-West matchup after experimenting with a "captain's draft," where the top fan-voted players from each conference drafted their own teams.

In this year's tournament, games will be decided by the first team to reach 40 points.