Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton officially named All-Star reserve
It was announced Thursday evening that veteran Milwaukee Bucks swingman Khris Middleton will be making his first career All-Star appearance at this year’s game in Charlotte.
Well, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will have some friendly company at this year’s NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, North Carolina next month.
It was officially revealed on Inside the NBA on TNT before the Bucks’ duel with the Toronto Raptors that Bucks swingman Khris Middleton has been named a reserve for this year’s NBA All-Star Game by way of the coaches’ vote.
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This will mark the first All-Star appearance of Middleton’s seven-year career.
Along with that, this will be the first time the Bucks will have multiple All-Stars in the same year since both Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson soaked up the All-Star spotlight together back in the 2001 edition in Washington D.C.
The news of Middleton making his first All-Star appearance comes a week after he finished 11th among Eastern Conference frontcourt players to determine this year’s All-Star starters.
As a result, the Bucks’ tremendous success up to this point in the season garnered plenty of favor among the coaches around the league, enough to open the door for the team to have a second All-Star alongside Antetokounmpo.
That’s not surprising, considering Middleton is averaging 17.3 points on shooting splits of .435/.376/.846, along with a career-high 5.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals in his 47 appearances so far this season.
Of course, Middleton wasn’t the only worthy All-Star candidate the Bucks boasted from within their roster, with Eric Bledsoe being equally deserving of making his first appearance at the NBA’s midseason classic. Middleton recently touched on both his and Bledsoe’s All-Star candidacy in a piece by Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and preached the bigger picture of what this season represents for the team as a whole:
"“It wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened,” Middleton said of one of them being left out. “I’m sure somebody will be happy for the other person however it works out, but we know that’s not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to win a championship.”"
It should be said that the door isn’t completely shut for Bledsoe to join both Antetokounmpo and Middleton at this year’s All-Star game because we’ve already seen from the unfortunate season-ending injury to Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo that Bledsoe could be selected as an injury replacement, a decision that comes down to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
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In any event, it will certainly be a thrill to see Middleton take center stage a couple of weeks from now in Charlotte and get some much needed recognition in what will be a career high mark for the 27-year-old.