DeRozan named NBA all-star game starter
Recognition of DeMar DeRozan’s work ethic and constant improvement has been slow to come in many corners of professional basketball.
Thursday night marked a turning point as, for the first time in his career, DeRozan was voted as a starter for the NBA all-star game, which will be held Feb. 19 in New Orleans.
DeRozan joins Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo as Eastern Conference starters. Starting for the West will be Golden State’s Steph Curry and Kevin Durant along with Houston’s James Harden, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and New Orleans’ Anthony Davis.
“It feels great,” DeRozan said Thursday, an off day before Friday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. “To just be voted is definitely a great honour. Last couple of years I got to see my teammate Kyle (Lowry) get voted in, and the excitement I had for him to be voted in was great. Now for me to be voted in is awesome.”
Lowry didn’t pull off the trifecta with three in a row, but he’ll likely be among the reserves added by the all-star team’s coaches a week from now.
DeRozan was selected to the game in 2014 and 2016. He was a coach’s selection as a reserve both times.
The process changed a little this year. Instead of the fans voting in the starters entirely, the selection process was weighted with 50 per cent of the vote going to the public, 25 per cent to the players and 25 per cent to select members of the media.
DeRozan and Boston’s Isaiah Thomas finished tied in the voting, but the fan vote gave DeRozan the nod.
DeRozan heads into Friday’s game as the second-leading scorer in the Eastern Conference, averaging 28.2 a night — just behind the 28.7 Boston’s Thomas has put up.
DeRozan’s 414 two-point baskets are first by a large margin in the NBA, and his 369 free throw attempts rank sixth.