Adebayo, Butler selected as All-Star reserves for East
For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the Heat has two All-Stars on its roster.
The Heat duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler were named reserves for next month’s All-Star Game. The seven reserves from each conference, which were voted on by conference coaches, were revealed Thursday night.
Along with Adebayo and Butler, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis were named as East All-Star reserves.
The seven All-Star reserves from the Western Conference are Portland’s Damian Lillard, Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, Houston’s Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul.
With Adebayo and Butler both earning the honor, it’s the first time the Heat has had two players voted into the All-Star Game since the 2015-16 season when Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade made it. Miami had at least two players voted into the All-Star Game for six consecutive seasons from 2010-11 to 2015-16.
It will mark Adebayo’s first appearance in the NBA AllStar Game. Butler became a five-time All-Star with Thursday’s
news.
Adebayo, 22, is averaging career-highs in points (16.0), rebounds (10.4), assists
(4.7), steals (1.2), blocks (1.1) and minutes (34.5) this season.
Butler, 30, is averaging 20.2 points on 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 24.5 percent shooting on threes, 6.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists in his first season with the Heat. He also owns a team-best plus/minus of plus-233.
The All-Star Game starters — voted on by fans, current NBA players and a media panel — were announced last week.
Boston’s Kemba Walker and Atlanta’s Trae Young were the two Eastern Conference guards voted in as starters, with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Toronto’s Pascal Siakam as the three East frontcourt players who made the squad.
The Western Conference All-Star starters are Anthony Davis and LeBron James from the Lakers, and Kawhi Leonard from the Clippers in the frontcourt, and Luka Doncic from the Mavericks and James Harden from the Rockets in the backcourt.
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will take place at the United Center in Chicago on Feb. 16. The two team captains will draft rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference, making their picks regardless of conference affiliation. The All-Star Draft will be televised by TNT next Thursday at 7 p.m.
The captain for each team is the All-Star starter from each conference who received the most fan votes in his conference, which is James from the Western Conference and Antetokounmpo from the Eastern Conference.
Next month’s All-Star Game will look different, though, with the NBA announcing changes to the game’s format Thursday.
Both All-Star Game teams will play for Chicago-based community organizations, with the teams competing to win each of the first three quarters. Each of the first three quarters will start with the score 0-0 and will be 12 minutes long, and the winner of each quarter will receive $100,000 for its community organization — a total of $300,000 will be donated to charity for the first three quarters.
If the first or second quarter ends in a tie, the $100,000 charity award for that quarter will be added to the next quarter’s award. If the third quarter ends in a tie, the $100,000 charity award for that quarter will be added to the award of the team that wins the NBA All-Star Game.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the game clock will be turned off and a Final Target Score will be set. The Final Target Score will be determined by taking the leading team’s total cumulative score through three quarters and adding 24 points — the 24 representing the late Kobe Bryant’s jersey number for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career.
The winning team in the NBA All-Star Game (the team that reaches the Final Target Score first) will earn $200,000 for its community organization. If one team sweeps all four quarters, the other team will receive $100,000 for its charity.
Adebayo and Butler won’t be the only players representing the Heat during All-Star Weekend. Forward Derrick Jones Jr. already accepted an invite to the Slam Dunk Contest, and second-year forward Duncan Robinson is a candidate to receive an invite to the Three-Point Contest. In addition, Robinson, and rookie guards Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn are all possibilities for The Rising Stars game.
The participants for The Rising Stars Game will be revealed Friday at noon and All-Star Saturday Night participants will be announced Tuesday at 7 p.m. on TNT.