Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle are playing incredible basketball for the New York Knicks, and have a chance to hear their names announced tonight as starters in the 2024 NBA All-Star game.
Both Brunson and Randle rank in the top 10 in the most recent Eastern Conference front and backcourt fan voting, as the league tweeted.
Per NBA.com, TNT’s Inside the NBA crew will announce the honors in their pregame show at 7 pm ET, as they normally do annually.
Could Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Start in His 1st All-Star Selection?
Brunson has yet to make an All-Star game in his seven-year career. The Knicks’ floor general is tearing up the league, averaging career-highs across the board. His 26.6 points trail only Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young for most among all points guards in the East, and are strengthened by 6.5 assists and 3.9 nightly rebounds.
Brunson’s game also has its fair share of excitement to it as a big-shot taker and big-shot maker. Brunson will need a sizable portion of votes from the players and the media to usurp the five guards ahead of him, but his chances are high based on the efficiency and winning that come with his numbers and highlight factor.
Julius Randle Has Outside Shot of Starting in Potential 4th All-Star Nod
Randle, a three-time All-Star, is no stranger to Sunday night’s affair. He is a stranger to taking the floor as a starter though.
Randle’s 2023-24 campaign shows numbers that are down in comparison to those of previous seasons in his Knicks tenure. Nonetheless, the reigning All-NBA Third-team member is boasting 24.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, and five assists per contest, the latter of which makes him one of only five power forwards putting up at least five assists a game.
While he’s No. 9 in the frontcourt, Randle is less than 40,000 fan votes away from Kristaps Porzingis who sits at No. 6. Starters or not, Brunson is a virtual lock to add All-Star to his resume while Randle will have a fighting chance.