By definition, Jalen Brunson is now a star.
What was already understood has now been cemented: the NBA’s 30 coaches voted Brunson into his first career All-Star Game on Thursday.
The coaches also voted Julius Randle to his third career All-Star Game.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was hopeful his team would earn two All-Stars ahead of tipoff against the Indiana Pacers.
“I’m hopeful. And I’m hopeful that Julius makes it as well. Those things are also a byproduct of the team winning,” he said. “Obviously they have to play well but I know from my end when I’m voting and it’s one of the worst feelings that there is is there’s a lot of guys who are having great seasons that are deserving and then it comes down to the team’s winning. And I think that goes in our favor and it goes into the impact that they have on winning.”
The Knicks are sending two players to All-Star Weekend — this year, in Indianapolis — for the first time in a decade.
Back then, it was the duo of Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler who represented New York for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game.
The Brunson-Randle pairing has an opportunity to do something Melo and Chandler never could: make it past the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Brunson is averaging 26.8 points and 6.5 rebounds on 48% shooting from the field and 42.2% shooting from three-point range. Randle is one of four players to average at least 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game this season. The others are former league MVPs.
Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle hinted that Brunson was en route to his first All-Star appearance ahead of tipoff at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Carlisle, who coached Brunson during his time with the Dallas Mavericks, said he wasn’t surprised his former point guard rose to All-Star candidacy as the head of the snake for the Knicks this season.
“No surprise. Zero. That kid is special,” he said pregame on Thursday. “He was special for us in Dallas. There’s just something about him. He has a bulldog competitiveness. He’s heard all the haters and detractors for so long that he just munches that stuff up and spits it out.
“Now he’s, you know, All-Star: That’s happening.”
Randle will be unable to take part in the All-Star Weekend festivities after dislocating his shoulder in Saturday’s matchup against the Miami Heat, but Thibodeau was hopeful the injury wouldn’t deter his All-Star candidacy, either.
“The coaches, they look at everything. When you look at his season, to be playing the way he’s been playing and having navigated what he had to go through in the summer and also his impact on winning, I think it does weigh into it,” he said. “So just let him continue to work. Obviously, he was playing at a very high level when he got injured. But injuries are a part of it. I think he’s been through things before and I think that serves him well. I think he knows how to approach it from a mental standpoint and so as I mentioned it to you guys before, I think the fact that he’s in great shape, I think it helps them as well. ‘
The East’s other reserves include Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey and Orlando’s Paolo Banchero.
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard were named starters in the East, while Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Lakers star LeBron James, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will start for the West.
Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Golden State’s Steph Curry, Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Minnesota Timberwolves stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, and Clippers stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard comprise the Western Conference All-Star reserves.
