On Thursday, Cavaliers forward Kevin Love was selected as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. The voting for reserves was done by the Eastern Conference head coaches.
Love will join Cavaliers teammates LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the Eastern Conference roster, marking the third time three Cavs players have been selected as All-Stars (Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance and Mark Price in 1989 and 1993).
Love Named Eastern Reserve
His 2017 All-Star appearance will mark the fourth for Love, who was previously named as a reserve in 2011 and 2012 and as a starter in 2014. The 6-10 forward has averaged 10.7 points on .500 (13-26) shooting from the field and 6.7 rebounds in 21.0 minutes over his three All-Star appearances and won the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout at 2012 All-Star Weekend in Orlando. This season, he has played in 39 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers and is averaging 20.5 points and 11.0 rebounds (10th in NBA) in 32.1 minutes per game. Love has a team-high 27 double-doubles (tied-eighth in NBA) and is shooting .376 from the three-point line and .869 from the foul line (tied-20th in NBA).
Irving and James Named All-Star Starters
LeBron James was the top overall vote-getter in the conference among all three voting groups and had the most fan votes in the NBA. His 2017 All-Star appearance will mark the 13th consecutive (all starts) for the two-time NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006 and 2008). He is set to become the fifth player in league history to start at least 13 All-Star Games, joining Kobe Bryant (18), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (14), Bob Cousy (13) and Michael Jordan (13). In his previous 12 All-Star appearances, James has averaged 24.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 30.3 minutes while shooting .513 (119-232) from the floor. Among all-time leaders in All-Star Game history, he ranks first in points scored (291), first in three-pointers made (28), tied for first in field goals made (119), third in scoring average (24.2), sixth in assists (75) and tied for 12th in steals (17).
This marks Irving’s fourth All-Star selection (2013, 2014 and 2015) and second as a starter (2014). In his three All-Star outings, he has averaged 19.0 points on .649 (24-37) shooting from the field, a .444 (8-18) mark from beyond the arc, 4.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists in 25.9 minutes. In addition to earning MVP honors in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, Irving won the 2013 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest at All-Star Weekend in Houston and was named MVP of the 2012 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend in Orlando.