A week after the starters were revealed, the rest of the NBA’s All-Star teams were announced on Thursday during TNT’s NBA Tip-Off show. And one player from the Eastern Conference got a lot of attention not for being included but omitted.
Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Julius Randle, Tyrese Haliburton, Bam Adebayo, DeMar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday were the Eastern Conference reserves. They’ll be joining starters Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Kyrie Irving at the NBA All-Star Game in Utah. One player who will not be, unless some replacements are made, is New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson.
Brunson, who had shown steady improvements and turned into a solid player over his first four NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, has broken out in his first year with the Knicks. He’s averaging 22.8 points per game with with 6.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1 steal. Brunson is also shooting 46.9% from the floor, 85.3% on free throws and 39.4% on threes.
Brunson’s absence was a surprise to TNT’s Charles Barkley, who said that he was “kind of shocked Jalen Brunson didn’t make it.”
Chuck: “I’m kind of shocked Jalen Brunson didn’t make it.”
The Inside crew discusses the biggest #NBAAllStar snubs. pic.twitter.com/7lLCmtb2OX
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 3, 2023
And Barkley was not alone in his shock.
There’s of course always a possibility that one of the named players will beg out with an injury. Should that happen, a replacement would be named. Brunson would certainly be a natrual candidate.
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