Hawks’ Jalen Johnson earns first NBA All-Star selection
Hawks forward Jalen Johnson is an NBA All-Star.
On Sunday, the league named the reserves for this season’s NBA All-Star Game based on votes from the league’s coaches. Johnson, who is in the midst of a career-best season, has emerged as the primary playmaker of the Hawks and one of the team’s most important players.
Through 46 games, Johnson has averaged a career-high 23.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 8 assists per game, while shooting a career-best 36% on 3-pointers.
The 24-year-old has recorded eight triple-doubles this season, as he has become the hub of the the Hawks’ offense, and his versatility as a playmaker has allowed the team to play with pace and run the floor, which is usually when they’re at their best.
And now, Johnson is an All-Star.
Johnson finished seventh in the player voting for All-Stars and eighth in both the fan vote and the media vote. Fan voting accounted for 50% of the overall tally, while player and media voting counted for 25%. That placed Johnson eighth overall in the votes to determine the All-Star starters.
This year’s All-Star Game will take on a different format, with a U.S.-versus-World competition. It will feature two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (known as the World team) competing in a round-robin tournament of four 12-minute games.
Each of the three teams will have a minimum of eight players. This year, All-Stars were selected without regard to their positions.
The league will assign the U.S. players to their teams at a later date.
If 16 U.S. players and eight international players (which can include American players with ties to other countries, if necessary) are not selected, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will choose additional All-Stars to join either group to reach that minimum. In that case, at least one team would have more than eight players.
The league has already named the 10 All-Star starters, with five players from each conference.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo led the initial voting.
The East starters include Antetokounmpo, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey.
Along with Johnson, the other East reserves include Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks), Pascal Siakam (Pacers), Norman Powell (Heat), Scottie Barnes (Raptors) and Jalen Duren (Pistons).
Starting in the West are Doncic, Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Thunder wing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nuggets big man Nikola Jokić and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama.
The West reserves include Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Chet Holmgren (Thunder), Kevin Durant (Rockets), Devin Booker (Suns), Deni Avdija (Blazers) and LeBron James (Lakers).
Wembanyama won a tiebreaker with the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards to earn a starting spot in the Western Conference after finishing higher in the fan vote.
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