Julius Randle is heading to his first NBA All-Star Game.
SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley confirms that Randle, who is averaging career-best numbers of 23.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 41.0 percent three-point shooting, is among of list of Eastern Conference reserves, first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania
Randle joins James Harden, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Ben Simmons, and Nikola Vucevic among Eastern Conference reserves, per Charania.
While starters for the East and West were determined via fan voting, the reserves were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches. Now that all the starters and reserves have been determined, captains Kevin Durant and LeBron James will each draft their respective teams on Thursday, March 4, three days ahead of the All-Star Game in Atlanta.
Earlier on Tuesday, Randle told reporters that earning his first All-Star nod “would be amazing.”
“It would mean a lot. My goal was never just to play in the NBA,” Randle said. “I always felt that I would get there. I just wanted to be the best player I could possibly be and reach my potential. And I try to push myself every day to do so.
“It would mean a lot, it would definitely be a milestone. But I’m just going to keep working and getting better every day.”
Along with Tom Thibodeau’s leadership as a head coach, Randle may be the biggest reason why the Knicks have exceeded expectations this season, as New York currently sits at 15-16, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
To put that in perspective, New York won just 21 games all of last season, and didn’t win their 15th game until their 51st contest of the season.
Randle has been called the Knicks’ ‘engine’ by Thibodeau, as most of the offense runs through the versatile power forward when he’s on the floor.
Now, Randle will have a chance to prove his place among the game’s elite players come March 7.
