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Three Hawks picked as All-Stars
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The NBA’s hottest team, the Atlanta Hawks, had three players chosen as All-Star reserves Thursday, the league announced.
Center Al Horford, power forward Paul Millsap and guard Jeff Teague will all represent Atlanta in the All-Star game on Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Hawks earned their franchise-record 17th consecutive win Wednesday, beating the Brooklyn Nets 113-102. Atlanta leads the Eastern Conference with a 38-8 record.
The last time Atlanta had three All-Stars in the same season was 1980 (Eddie Johnson, John Drew and Dan Roundfield). Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer will guide the Eastern Conference team.
“It is an honor for our entire organization to have Al, Paul and Jeff selected to play on the All-Star stage,” Budenholzer said in a statement. “The recognition is well-deserved for each of them. We are very proud of the guys, and also want to acknowledge the rest of our players and coaches for their roles in helping our players reach this accomplishment.”
The team with the league’s best record, the Golden State Warriors (36-7), had shooting guard Klay Thompson chosen as an All-Star reserve to join starting point guard Stephen Curry. Two Golden State players were selected as All-Stars for the first time since Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin in 1993, though Mullin didn’t appear in the game because of an injury.
Golden State has two All-Star guards for the first time ever.
Other teams with multiple All-Stars are the Cleveland Cavaliers (starting forward LeBron James and reserve guard Kyrie Irving), the Chicago Bulls (starting forward Pau Gasol and reserve guard/forward Jimmy Butler), the Miami Heat (reserve forward/center Chris Bosh and reserve guard Dwyane Wade), the Los Angeles Clippers (starting forward Blake Griffin and reserve guard Chris Paul) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (reserve forward Kevin Durant and reserve guard Russell Westbrook).
The first-time All-Stars are Thompson, Butler, Teague and starting guard Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors.
Bosh, a five-time All-Star with the Raptors earlier in his career, becomes the third player to make five All-Star teams with two different teams, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kevin Garnett.
The full All-Star teams, with number of All-Star selections:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Starters
F Carmelo Anthony, New York (8)
F Pau Gasol, Chicago (5)
F LeBron James, Cleveland (11)
G Kyle Lowry, Toronto (1)
G John Wall, Washington (2)
Reserves
F/C Chris Bosh, Miami (10)
G/F Jimmy Butler, Chicago (1)
C Al Horford, Atlanta (3)
G Kyrie Irving, Cleveland (3)
F Paul Millsap, Atlanta (2)
G Jeff Teague, Atlanta (1)
G Dwyane Wade, Miami (11)
Coach Mike Budenholzer, Atlanta
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Starters
F Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers (5)
F Anthony Davis, New Orleans (2)
C Marc Gasol, Memphis (2)
G Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (17)
G Stephen Curry, Golden State (2)
Reserves
F LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland (4)
F Tim Duncan, San Antonio (15)
F Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (6)
G James Harden, Houston (3)
G Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers (8)
G Klay Thompson, Golden State (1)
G Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City (4)
Coach Steve Kerr, Golden State
