Russell Westbrook Selected as Reserve for 2019 All-Star Game

Paul George won’t be alone when he makes the trip to Charlotte on February 17 for the 2019 All-Star Game. As of Thursday night, Russell Westbrook is officially a Western Conference reserve — the eighth career All-Star nod for the Thunder’s superstar point guard.

Though Westbrook failed to earn a starting position after finishing fourth among Western Conference backcourt players in the fan/media/player vote, NBA coaches came through as expected for the former MVP. Westbrook is averaging 21.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 10.8 assists through 42 games, well on his way to a third consecutive season with a triple-double average. He’s also second in the league in steals at 2.3 per game — trailing only his star running mate’s 2.33 SPG.

Westbrook is joined in the Western Conference reserve pool by LaMarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, and Karl-Anthony Towns. In the Eastern Conference, Bradley Beal, Blake Griffin, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Victor Oladipo (injured), Ben Simmons, and Nikola Vucevic earned the honors.

With the selections from both conferences now official, the attention turns to February 7’s All-Star Draft. Captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will take turns building their roster in a televised draft that will air live on TNT at 6:00 PM CST.