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Tim BontempsESPN
After being traded for each other this past summer, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook were both selected by the league’s coaches to return to the All-Star Game next month in Chicago. They’ll be joined by several players who’ll be making their first All-Star appearance in what marks a bit of a changing of the guard for the All-Star Game.
Paul (10th All-Star selection) and Westbrook (ninth) are joined by Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (fifth) and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (second) as the repeat selections from the Western Conference. Three players — Utah Jazz teammates Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram — earned their first All-Star selection.
The Eastern Conference reserves were led by Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, who will make his sixth All-Star appearance, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (fifth) and Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons and Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton (twice) as repeat selections. They will be joined by three first-time selections: Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers center Domantas Sabonis.
“Definitely it is an honor,” Tatum said in a statement. “I am extremely blessed and grateful. Third year to make the all-star team it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.”
The six first-time selections among the reserves join starters Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Pascal Siakam as nine players who’ll be making their first trip to the All-Star Game. It is the first time since 2010 that nine players are making their first All-Star appearance in the same game, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Though the reserves were picked evenly from each conference, they’ll be put into the draft pool from which captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will fill out their rosters next Thursday on TNT’s Inside The NBA.
The biggest names left off this year’s All-Star roster are LA Clippers forward Paul George, Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving and Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who had combined for 14 previous All-Star selections. George and Irving have both missed a significant chunk of games with shoulder injuries, while Beal is playing on a Wizards team that is far out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
Other notable near misses are Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, who had been an All-Star each of the past two years.
This is the first time since 1997 that the San Antonio Spurs haven’t had an All-Star — snapping the longest such streak in the league. With Paul making it this year, that honor now shifts to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who now have had someone make the All-Star Game in 11 straight seasons.
Earlier Thursday, the league also announced sweeping changes to the structure of this year’s All-Star Game, including a tribute to Kobe Bryant as part of an untimed fourth quarter in which the teams will play to a target score.