The Utah Jazz could have an All-Star starter for the first time in decades.
On Thursday, five days after fan voting began, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins tweeted his picks as starters from the Western Conference for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Feb. 20 in Cleveland. The five he listed include one Utah Jazz player, and it might not be the one you think it is.
Here are Perkins’ proposed starters from the West:
- Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant
- Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry
- Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James
- Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic
- Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert
Worth noting, no Jazz player has been a starter in an All-Star Game since Karl Malone earned back-to-back nods in 1997 and 1998. Also, the franchise has only twice produced two All-Star starters in the same season: 1989 and 1993 via Malone and John Stockton on both occasions.
Utah Jazz big man seems well-deserving
Yes, Kendrick Perkins went with Rudy Gobert and no Donovan Mitchell, who leads the 25-9 Jazz with 25.4 points, 1.6 steals, and 3.2 makes from downtown per game. That said, a handful of Utah fans were in the comments suggesting that Mitchell ought to replace Ja Morant and thereby give the franchise two starters.
Now, in respect to Gobert, his paint prowess this season is bordering on historic in at least one regard.
Currently, the 7-foot-1, 260-pound Frenchman is averaging 15.6 points and 14.9 rebounds while shooting 71.6 percent from the field. As Jazz radio voice David Locke pointed out in a Thursday tweet, no NBA player has ever finished at or above those three marks in the same campaign.
Last season, Utah put three players in the All-Star Game: Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, who landed on the roster together for the second straight year, plus first-timer Mike Conley.