Giannis Antetokounmpo selected to fifth straight All-Star appearance
The inevitable has been made official: Giannis Antetokounmpo is heading to his fifth straight All-Star Game.
The Milwaukee Bucks superstar finished second in fan voting that leads to him earning his fifth straight All-Star appearance and his fifth consecutive nod as a starter. Antetokounmpo joins Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving to come out of the Eastern Conference as All-Stars this season.
More from Bucks News
- Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
- Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
- Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
- Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
- New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited
While Antetokounmpo won’t serve as an All-Star captain this year as he had done so in the previous two years, he will certainly be high on the list of players that both Durant and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James will pick from in this year’s draft.
Over his 27 appearances this season, Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.2 points on .563/.290/.642 shooting, 11.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks across 33.6 minutes per game.
Of course, Antetokounmpo’s All-Star selection comes after comments he made two weeks ago about having reservations for this year’s edition being held in the first place. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old is bound for Atlanta when this year’s All-Star game is held on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is tracking for Milwaukee Bucks history when it comes to All-Star appearances.
With this being his fifth All-Star selection of his eight-year career, Antetokounmpo keeps on rising in the Bucks’ record books. After all, this selection matches Sidney Moncrief’s five All-Star selections and is one away from matching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s six All-Star selections over his time in Milwaukee.
At this point in Antetokounmpo’s career, earning All-Star selections feels like a given and rightfully so. While the Bucks have been going through considerable struggles through this season, more than any other in the Mike Budenholzer era, Antetokounmpo has increasingly played up to his MVP-caliber standard as the season has gone on.
Now whether Antetokounmpo will joined by Khris Middleton will be a question answered Tuesday, February 23 when this year’s All-Star reserves are announced. As the Bucks’ All-Star tandem, Milwaukee hasn’t had a pair of teammates go to three consecutive All-Star games ever in franchise history, which would be quite the feat to say the least.
Next. 3 questions the Bucks must ask before trade deadline. dark
As we await Middleton’s fate for the next couple of days, we’ll know that the Bucks’ leading superstar will feature in the NBA’s midseason classic. Just as has in each of the last four years and in the years to come.