Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is basically a lock to head to the NBA All-Star Game next month.
Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White all have a chance to join Tatum at the marquee exhibition event. But there’s another member of the Celtics that the organization is pushing to be in Indianapolis for All-Star Weekend.
The Celtics are trying to campaign for Sam Hauser to be among the stars and participate in the NBA’s 3-point shooting contest. The franchise on Wednesday posted a highlight-reel video to the X platform of Hauser knocking down treys to drum up support for Hauser’s candidacy.
Boston has a real case to make for Hauser belonging in the 3-point shooting contest. The sharpshooter is shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc on 5.5 attempts per game this season. That shooting percentage is good for just fourth on the Celtics, but Hauser takes more shots from deep per game than two players — Al Horford and Jrue Holiday — ahead of him. And Derrick White, who takes 6.6 3-pointers per game, is just percentage points ahead of Hauser at 40.4%.
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Getting to All-Star weekend would be quite the accomplishment for Hauser. The 26-year-old went undrafted out of Virginia and has worked his way into Boston’s rotation during his third NBA season. He is averaging 8.1 points per game off the bench for the Celtics this season.
The Celtics surely will ramp up their campaigning for Hauser in the coming weeks. If he does get selected to participate, it would be the second straight season a Celtics player competed in the event with Tatum doing so last year.
NBA All-Star Weekend is set to take place from Feb. 16-18 and the starters for the All-Star Game will be revealed Thursday on TNT night prior to the Celtics taking on the Heat, who just traded for a former Boston guard this week.
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Featured image via Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Images
