Tyrese Haliburton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr get FIRST All-Star selections, with Joel Embiid, Julius Randle and more filling out the reserve rosters
Four players – one from the East and three from the West – were named to their first All-Star teams Thursday night.
Tyrese Haliburton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr received the recognition for the first team as a who’s who of stars filled out the rest of the reserve rosters.
Haliburton is averaging 20.2 points, a league-leading 10.2 assists and four rebounds per night for Indiana.
Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander is fifth in the league in scoring (30.8 ppg), Markkanen (24.9ppg) is having a career year for a surprisingly competitive Jazz squad, and Jackson Jr. (3.3 blocks per contest) is a leading candidate to be Defensive Player of the Year.
Also named as reserves in the East were Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle.
This is the first All-Star selection of Tyrese Haliburton’s young career
Embiid is a genuine MVP candidate for the Sixers averaging 33.5 points and 10.1 rebounds, and many fans disagreed with him not being a starter.
There were also sources of contention among the reserves.
De’Aaron Fox, Pascal Siakam and Jalen Brunson were each snubbed from All-Star selection – which will especially sting for Fox and Brunson, as their teams are in playoff position.
Fox is averaging 24.3 points on 50.6 percent from the field for the third-place Kings.
Brunson, meanwhile is scoring 22.8 points per night along with 6.2 assists for the Knicks, who are in seventh place.
James Harden and Anthony Davis have also had strong seasons, but extended injury absences for each likely led to them being left off.
Donovan Mitchell, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo were previously named as the East’s first five.
In the west, Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis, Paul George and Damian Lillard were also named as reserves.
LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Zion Williamson, Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic were previously announced as the West starters.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fifth in the league in scoring with 30.8 points per game
Lauri Markkanen is having a career year (24.9ppg) and leading the way for a scrappy Jazz team
Jaren Jackson Jr. is a favorite to be named Defensive Player of the Year with the Grizzlies