Jayson Tatum Named NBA All-Star For Third Straight Season
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jayson Tatum has been named an NBA All-Star for the third straight season. The Celtics forward was named an Eastern Conference reserve on Thursday night.
The 23-year-old is the youngest player in Celtics history to earn an All-Star nod three times.
Tatum is averaging 25.9 points (43.0% FG), a career-high 8.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 36.4 minutes over his 49 games this season. Tatum is the NBA's current scoring leader this season with 1,269 points, and is tied for third in the league with 38 games of 20 or more points.
He also has 16 games where he scored at least 30 points, a pair of 40-point games, and he scored 51 in a Jan. 23 win over the Wizards. That was the fifth 50-point game of Tatum's young career, the most such games in Boston history.
Tatum is the first Celtics player to get three straight All-Star nods since Rajon Rondo went to four straight All-Star games.
Here are the rest of the Eastern Conference reserves:
Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
James Harden, Brooklyn Nets
Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks
Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors
For now, Tatum will be the lone Celtics player in the Feb. 20 exhibition in Cleveland. There is a chance that Tatum will be named a starter in place of the injured Kevin Durant, which may open up a spot for Boston teammate Jaylen Brown.