By Brian Foley, Special to OnMilwaukee   Published Feb 01, 2019 at 2:56 PM Photography: Dan Garcia

For the most part, Milwaukee is rolling through its dream season. The Bucks have yet to lose consecutive games all year, and outside of one relatively sloppy stretch where they went just 9-8 from Nov. 1 through Dec. 7, they have completely outclassed their opponents.

The Bucks are 15-3 since Christmas, own the league’s best overall record (37-13), sport the top point differential in the NBA (plus-9.7) and are now sending two All-Stars – plus their head coach – to Charlotte for the 2019 All-Star Game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is unsurprisingly headed to All-Star weekend for the third-straight season, while teammate Khris Middleton was tabbed as a reserve for the first-time in his career. Middleton has not provided his usual consistency this season, but the dearth of elite talent in the Eastern Conference and the Bucks’ incredible season to date still makes Middleton a worthwhile selection (17.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game).

This is the 13th time the Bucks have fielded two All-Stars in one season, and the first since Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson both qualified in 2000 and 2001.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer will also be on hand in Charlotte on Saturday, Feb. 17, as the coach with the Eastern Conference’s best record at the midway point. He will patrol the All-Star sidelines for the second time in his career; as the head coach in 2015, Budenholzer’s side fell, 163-158. Budenholzer joins Larry Costello (1971 and 1974) as the only two Milwaukee coaches to steward an All-Star team.

Antetokounmpo’s MVP-caliber first-half (26.4 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists per game) resulted in the most votes among all Eastern Conference players and the ensuing captaincy. Remember: Though the NBA still recognizes 12 players from both the East and West, the All-Star rosters are no longer built upon such regional constructs. Leading vote-getters Antetokounmpo and 15-time All-Star LeBron James will each build their own teams during a draft on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. on TNT.

Plenty of mystery surrounds the All-Star draft, which will be televised for the first time ever. (This is only the second year of player-selected All-Star rosters.) Does Giannis have any players specifically circled on his list? How long will he wait to draft his teammate Middleton? Can LeBron build a team strictly out of players who could be starting for the Lakers in eight months?

James – whose team narrowly defeated Steph Curry’s squad last year – will have the first overall selection next Thursday, with each pick alternating back and forth from there. The eight other players who were voted as starters must be taken in the first eight slots, and then James and Antetokounmpo can dive into the remaining reserve pool. Here is the full list of eligible All-Stars for the first two rounds. (Note: Commissioner Adam Silver will name an Eastern Conference replacement for the injured Victor Oladipo.)

But that’s not all! On Friday, Silver announced both Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki will be named All-Stars as part of a special roster addition. Wade and Nowitzki – who now have a combined 27 All-Star appearances between them – will be available for selection in the third-round after each of the reserves have been drafted. Wade has announced that this will be his final season, and though the 40-year-old Nowitzki has not publicly declared anything regarding his future, he is averaging career-lows across the board, including just 4.4 points and 10.3 minutes per game.

Despite Wade’s connection to Milwaukee as a former Marquette star, expect LeBron to snap up his good friend and former teammate in an instant. Somewhat fittingly, that still leaves Nowitzki for Giannis, which will symbolize a passing of the torch from the greatest European player ever to the next player who may assume that same mantle.