NBA

Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, and Lauri Markkanen named All-Star starters after latest injury report

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Antonio Kozlow
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Antonio Kozlow Sports Editor

Antonio is a life long sports enthusiast and professional journalist, who shares an obssesive urge to find and dig up the most interesting facts to guide gamblers towards more exciting, yet safe bets. In his own words, ''you can never really know enough about the things you love''.

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Sports Editor

Updated10 Feb 2023

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After it was reported yesterday that Pelicans Zion Williamson suffered a hamstring strain and will be out until after the All-Star break, he joined Stephen Curry and Phoenix’s new star Kevin Durant as the three players who won’t be able to participate in this month’s 72nd Annual NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City.

NBA Comissioner Adam Silver just announced Sixers’ Joel Embiid, Ja Morant from Memphis, and the host city’s star Lauri Markkanen as their replacements in the starting lineups, as they were all reserves before.

Probably the most heart-warming story is Markkanen’s, as nobody would of ever thought he could become an All-Star starter at the beginning of the campaign. It’s been a rollercoaster on emotions for the Finnish player, as just a week ago he was announced for the first time as a Western Conference reserve, and now he’s starting next to LeBron James in the West’s squad.

The 25-year-old got a little emotional when he was asked about his feelings at the time they announced him as a starter. “You remember everything you’ve gone through in your journey, and everything happens for a reason,” he said. “I was so happy when it happened, but then slowly started thinking of the stuff I had to go through to get here.”

The best thing about it is that the honor is incredibly well deserved as Markkanen is having the best season of his career so far, undoubtedly Utah’s No. 1. The athletic 7-footer is averaging career-highs in points (24.7), shot attempts (16.1), field goal percentage (51.8%), three-point percentage (42.3%), assists (1.7), minutes (34.2), and effective field goal percentage (61.8%). He’s also averaging 8.6 rebounds per game, the second-most in his career.

“When other teams play the Utah Jazz they know they have to game plan for Lauri Markkanen,” head coach Will Hardy said. “I don’t think that there’s a whole lot that I need to say that his play hasn’t said already.”

Check out some of the highlights from the Finnish’s 2022/23 campaign:

As for Joel Embiid, it was about time he got called. The French big man is not only the current No.2 in the Kia MVP Ladder, but he has become the league’s highest averaged scorer in front of Dallas’ Luka Doncic. The Sixers star has scored 35+ points in five out of his last seven matches, reaching a season average of 33.3 ppg.

The Grizzlies point guard was another obvious choice, as Ja Morant is the league’s 4th best playmaker (8.3 apg), 9th best scorer (27.4 ppg), and arguably the best slam dunker in the NBA.

The new All-Star reserves were also announced

Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, De’Aron Fox from Sacramento, and Minnesota’s youngster Anthony Edwards were all chosen to be all-star reserve injury replacements for the 72, and now replace the new starters in their respective conferences.

The selection is especially meaningful for Fox and Edwards, as they are making their All-Star debut this year. The Kings’ point guard is averaging (24.2) points, (4.3) rebounds, (6.3) assists, and (1.1) steals per game this season, as for Edwards, the 21-year-old has dropped an average of 24.7 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists so far this year.

Making his second all-star appearance in his career is Pascal Siakam representing the Eastern Conference. He hasn’t been called back since the 2019-20 campaign and was the first-ever G League athlete to start in an all-star game. Siakam is one of the only guarantees out of the Raptor’s disappointing season.