Tatum earns All-Star start
Brown finishes fourth in voting
MIAMI — Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was named an All-Star starter for the fourth year in a row on Thursday. He will be joined in the Eastern Conference starting lineup by Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, 76ers center Joel Embiid, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, and Bucks guard Damian Lillard.
Tatum was voted in as a starter last season, and he started the previous two years in place of injured forward Kevin Durant. This will be his fifth All-Star appearance. He entered Thursday’s 143-110 romp over the Heat averaging 27 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game this season.
“It means the world,” Tatum said after scoring 26 points against the Heat. “I never get used to it. I never want to take it for granted. As a kid it was my dream. I watched All-Star weekend every year growing up and just dreamed about one day being in that game. So to be voted in as a starter, fifth year straight in the game, doesn’t seem real at times.”
Tatum got a late push and leapfrogged Embiid to finish second among Eastern Conference frontcourt players in the fan vote. He was third in the player and media votes, which each account for 25 percent of the vote.
Celtics forward Jaylen Brown finished tied for fourth among frontcourt players with Orlando’s Paolo Banchero. Kristaps Porzingis was eighth. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the backcourt voting.
In the Western Conference, the Lakers’ LeBron James was voted as a starter, marking his 20th All-Star game and moving him ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most appearances in NBA history. The Suns’ Durant and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic join James in the starting frontcourt for the West, along with guards Luka Doncic of the Mavericks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder. Each conference’s seven reserves for the Feb. 18 game in Indianapolis will be chosen by coaches and announced next week. Even though the Celtics own the NBA’s best record, the coaching staff is ineligible because it coached last season.
Coaching circles
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he sympathizes with former Bucks coach Adrian Griffin, who was fired Tuesday after helping the Bucks to a 30-13 start in his first season.
“I feel for him personally, just when you get into a situation, you get an opportunity, a dream, so to speak, to be an NBA head coach and it ends the way that you don’t want it to end,” Mazzulla said. “I have a lot of sympathy for that. It could be really difficult whether it’s in your control or not. At the same time, that’s kind of the nature of what coaching has become. You usually take the majority of the blame . . . and you have to be willing to take that on.”
When Mazzulla was named interim coach last season following Ime Udoka’s suspension, his long-term role was unclear. He was named full-time coach after Udoka was dismissed in February.
“And at the end of the day, we’re all expendable, I guess you could say,” Mazzulla said. “And so I sympathize towards what [Griffin] had to go through from the standpoint of, that’s probably been a dream of his and it just didn’t go the way he thought and that can be hard.”
Four of 41
Tatum, Brown, Holiday, and White were selected to USA Basketball’s 41-player pool for the Paris Olympics this summer. The group will eventually be whittled to 12.
“It’s great,” Brown said. “I think the way they’re looking at this team, we have a lot of guys that can add value in different components, defensively, offensively. So I think it says a lot about our guys.”
Tatum was part of the gold medal-winning squad at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and will almost certainly have a spot on this squad if he wants one. Holiday has reportedly emerged as a key target of USA Basketball for the Paris Olympics. Tatum, Brown, and White were teammates on the 2019 FIBA World Cup squad.
“It’s obviously a big honor,” White said. “I’m obviously just thankful and grateful for it and we’ll see what happens down the line. But it’s definitely a great honor.”