PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Damian Lillard has been selected for his seventh career NBA All-Star game as a reserve.
The league’s 30 coaches voted on the 14 reserve spots for the 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19 All-Star Game in Utah. Coaches voted for two guards, three frontcourt players and two players at any position in their respective conferences.
Lillard, in his 11th season, is currently averaging what would be a career single-season high in points per game with 30.7 a night, which also ranks sixth in the NBA this season. That’s thanks in large part to the star guard averaging 34.5 points per game in the month of January, highlighted by a 60-point performance in a win over Utah on Jan. 25.
Lillard was also recently named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 23-29. Lillard averaged 42.3 points, 7.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in three games as he passed Jason Terry (2,282) and Vince Carter (2,290) to move up to the No. 6 spot for all-time career 3-pointers in the NBA.
Other reserves coming from the Western Conference include Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Paul George, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Joining Lillard from the Eastern Conference are Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Jrue Holiday, Julius Randle and Tyrese Haliburton.
Lillard and the 13 other reserves now go into the reserve pool as top vote-getters LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will pick the teams before the game tips off, starting at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 19 on TNT.
The two captains will first pick from the players voted in as starters, and those include Nikola Jokic, Zion Williamson, Steph Curry and Luka Doncic from the west; Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Kyrie Irving from the east.
Shaedon Sharpe will join Lillard in Salt Lake City as Sharpe will compete in the NBA Slam Dunk contest along with Trey Murphy III from New Orleans, KJ Martin from Houston and Mac McClung out of the G League. The Skills Challenge and 3-point Contest participants have not been revealed yet, but could certainly include Anfernee Simons.
