For his amazing play in the first half of the 2019-20 season for the LA Clippers, Kawhi Leonard has been named an All-Star starter.
As it was just announced on Inside The NBA, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was named an All-Star starter for this year’s star-studded game taking place at the United Center in Chicago.
Leading the Clippers to the second-best record in the West at (31-14), Kawhi Leonard has averaged career-high numbers across the board while also playing the least amount of minutes in his past five seasons (min. 10 games played).
This will be Leonard’s fourth all-star appearance and second consecutive appearance as he previously made it with the San Antonio Spurs (2016, 2017), Toronto Raptors (2019) and now the LA Clippers (2020).
In the 34 games he has played in this season, the Clippers boast a strong record of (26-8). Only playing around 32 minutes a games this year while also load-managing, the Klaw is averaging 27.1 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game and 5.0 assists per game.
He is also shooting a career-high from the free-throw line at 88.8 percent. It comes as no surprise that Kawhi was selected as an All-Star starter for his second-consecutive season.
In the past week, he was named Western Conference Player of the Week as he is slowly progressing towards Playoff Kawhi.
Leonard has eclipsed the 30-plus point mark in his last six games while also leading the Clips to a (5-1) record.
This will be the first time since 2017 that the LA Clippers will have a player representing the team at the All-Star Game. The last time being former Clipper, DeAndre Jordan, who was selected as a reserve in the 2017 All-Star Game.
This also marks the first time since the 2015 season that an LA Clipper player gets selected as a starter with the last player being Blake Griffin, who was unable to participate in that game due to injury.
Joining Leonard as All-Star starters from the West include Mavs guard Luka Doncic, Rockets guard James Harden and Lakers forwards (Team Captain) LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Representing the East starters are Bucks forward (Team Captain) Giannis Antetokounmpo, Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, 76ers center Joel Embiid, Celtics guard Kemba Walker, Hawks guard Trae Young.
For the second consecutive season, the NBA will televise the All-Star draft with the same Team Captains from last season (Lebron and Giannis).
If you recall, LeBron notoriously selected every player that was connected to the Lakers via trade/free agency, thus everyone called his squad, “Team Tampering”.
Giannis, on the other hand, was confused at first with the draft process as he thought he had to select all the International players when he really could have picked anybody.
With money on the line again for both teams (coaching staff included), expect to see a game filled with memorable highlights, the defense played in crunch-time and most of all, sitting back and enjoying one night of the best talent the NBA has to offer all on one floor.
As trade season approaches us once again be sure to stay connected on our site or Twitter for more up-to-date coverage surrounding all things LA Clippers!