Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Going Back To NBA All-Star Game As Starter

Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum has put together an MVP-like résumé this season.

And now, Tatum can add NBA All-Star Game starter to it.

Tatum was elected as an All-Star for the fourth straight season Thursday night and it will be the third time the 24-year-old starts the league’s marquee exhibition event. The two previous seasons Tatum replaced starters who were injured, but this time around, he earned the outright starting nod after garnering high marks in a fan, NBA players and media vote.

Entering Thursday night’s contest against the New York Knicks, Tatum ranked third in the NBA in scoring with 31 points per game on 46.8% shooting from the field. He also has accumulated 8.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game to help lead the Celtics to an NBA-best 35-14 record.

Joining Tatum from the Eastern Conference as All-Star starters are Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was also named a team captain, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell.

Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Zion Williamson and LeBron James, who earned captain honors, rounded out the starters from the Western Conference.

Tatum’s running mate in Jaylen Brown could make a second career trip to the All-Star Game as well, but he will have to wait until Feb. 2 when the reserves are revealed.

While the starters have been announced, the official rosters for the game won’t be decided until right before tip-off when the two captains make their selections. The NBA announced the format change earlier this week.

The NBA All-Star Game will take place Feb. 19 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.