Just a week after Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant have named starters for the 2023 NBA All-Star game, it was announced that Knicks star Julius Randle would join them in Salt Lake City for All-Star Weekend.
While the starters for each squad, like Durant and Irving, were selected by a combination of fan, player, and media votes, the head coaches (Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics and Michal Malone of the Nuggets) chose the reserves, naming seven players from each conference.
Randle was one of the seven players chosen by Mazzulla to represent the Eastern Conference.
It’s no surprise either.
Randle was 9th in the frontcourt after the public voting, thanks to being 10th in player voting, 9th in fan voting, and tied for 5th in media voting. He was also picked by all of the NBA on TNT crew to be named an All-Star reserve.
Randle ranks 11th in the Eastern Conference with 24.7 points per game, 4th in the East with 10.9 rebounds a game, and 12th among Eastern Conference forwards with 4.1 assists per game. He’s also fourth among Eastern Conference forwards with 2.7 threes per game, and is shooting 45.8% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc.
He now joins Irving and Durant in representing New York at the 2023 Al-Star Game.
The two Nets superstars were named as starters last week during a separate announcement on TNT. Durant is making his 13th All-Star appearance and his third straight as a member of the Nets and Irving will be making his eighth trip to the All-Star festivities.
There is growing hope that Durant will be able to participate in the NBA All-Star Game this season, though it remains unclear while he recovers from an MCL sprain he suffered in January. Durant will be reevaluated in the coming week.
“I want to play in tomorrow if I can. So, that’s what my sense of urgency is,” Durant said last week in Brooklyn. “Obviously I don’t want to rush anything. I want to make sure I’m 100 percent. But yeah, I want to play. I want to be a part of all these events.”
While all three players are in the Eastern Conference, that does not mean they will be on the same team. This will be the sixth season the All-Star Game uses a “draft” format, in which the team’s captains, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, will draft a roster from the remaining 22 players.
This year, TNT will air the All-Star draft as a pregame segment on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
However, these three are not the only New York players headed to Salt Lake City for All-Star Weekend as Knicks shooting guard Quentin Grimes was named to the Rising Stars roster earlier this week.
The second-year guard from Kansas has emerged as a key cog for the Knicks, averaging 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while playing near-elite defense on the perimeter.
The Rising Stars Challenge will be one of the opening events of All-Star Weekend on Friday, February 17th at 9 p.m. ET on TNT. It features a mini-tournament with three teams comprised of 21 NBA players and a fourth team that features seven G League players. Each game will be played to a Final Target Score: two semifinal matchups to 40, and a championship game to 25.
NBA All-Star Saturday will feature the skills challenge, 3-point contest, and slam dunk contest. This year will also feature the NBA HBCU Classic with a game between Grambling State and Southern before the All-Star Game itself is played on Sunday.
