All-Star is a label that separates the NBA's elite from the rest of the league. It's a label that says you've made it, a permanent spot in NBA history.

It is a label that Rashard Lewis covets.

"That's something that I've always wanted to do, be on the All-Star team, ever since I came into the NBA," says Lewis. "That's most definitely one of my dreams or a main goal that I set for myself this year."

Lewis is playing at an All-Star level this season. Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty

If his performance over the first two months of the season is any indication, Lewis is ready to ascend to All-Star level. As of Saturday, Lewis ranked 14th in the NBA in scoring at 22.0 points per game, a mark that bettered that of half of last season's All-Stars. Still, Lewis wasn't amongst the top ten forwards when the first All-Star voting returns were released by the NBA last week.

"I think for Rashard to get in, that opportunity is going to come from the coaches," says Sonics Coach Nate McMillan. "I think the coaches are aligning themselves with who really is playing the best. That's where it will come down to.

"If the coach makes an honest analysis, you can't keep him out."

It's not so much what Lewis has done this season as how he has done it that has been impressive. Consistency has long been the biggest road block to Lewis becoming a star in this league, but that has changed this season.

Last year, Lewis scored less than 15 points in nearly half of his 80 games - 35 times, to be exact. This year, that's happened just three times in 23 games. The only time Lewis has failed to score double-figures came when he played just 27 minutes against New Jersey because of a strained left shoulder, and he's topped the 20-point mark 15 times. That hasn't meant Lewis has stopped having big games - his season-high 37 points against the L.A. Lakers last Tuesday in a 108-93 victory are evidence of that - but he's eliminated the valleys that once surrounded them.

"I know I can go out and play with these guys - it's just being focused night in and night out and going out and doing it every single night and not doing it for a couple of nights and taking a couple of nights off," says Lewis. "You have to do it every single night. That was my main focus coming into the season."

There's an element of maturity in that, as well as the way Lewis has learned to let the game come to him and be patient when he faces a mismatch against a smaller player, something the Sonics love to take advantage of.

"You see the maturity," McMillan said after the win over the Lakers. "It seems like every game I’ve been talking to him like he’s playing old. He’s slowing down and making good decisions when he has the ball. When he has a small, he’s taking his time getting the good shot. He’s moving the ball. When he has a big, he’s taking him out and being aggressive and his stroke is going."

That same maturity has been evident off the court. At age 25, Lewis has become a leader not only in the Sonics locker room, but also in the Seattle community he has made his home much of the year. The last two years in particular, Lewis has stepped up his charity work through his Rashard Lewis foundation.

"I did (want to be involved in the community) when I first came in, but I think it took me a while because I was basically trying to focus on basketball, because I wasn't playing as much," says Lewis. "I was trying to establish myself as an NBA player before I started to worry about other things. I didn't want to worry about too many off-the-court issues. Now that I've established myself, it's a little bit easier for me. I know the ins and outs; it gives me the chance to do something else."

Reading to kids is part of Lewis' off-court involvement in the community. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

That desire to help others was instilled in Lewis from a young age by his mother, Juanita, who played an invaluable role in his development as a person.

"My mom played the number one role in my life, me and my brothers and sisters, because of the fact that she was a single parent growing up," Lewis says. "She raised all of us and disciplined us the right way, taught us the things we have to do to succeed in life."

Lewis' most visible charity work has come with the Seattle Ronald McDonald House. Lewis donated $125,000 to build the Rashard Lewis Theater at the House, stepping up after initial investors fell through. The Rashard Lewis Theater opened last November, and, largely because of his donation, Lewis won the NBA's Community Assist Award for the month of October 2003.

"It's very rewarding," says Lewis. "I think, if anything, it puts a smile on your face when you do some type of charity work, like when I built the movie theater for the kids at the Ronald McDonald House or even when I go out and sign autographs like we did at Southcenter when they were bringing toys for underprivileged kids. To see those people that come up, it's about making them happy, not by making a three-point shot, but by touching their hearts."

Lewis' latest project off the court is the Rashard Lewis Show, which airs Saturdays when the Sonics are at home and not playing on KUBE 93 FM from 6-8 p.m. While learning the radio business himself, Lewis has helped others do the same by inviting youngsters participating in programs with local performing arts non-profit Arts Corp to join him in the studio.

"With those guys, it's something they like to do, so they just get information from the DJ or learn all the buttons and learn how to run a radio station, run a radio show," Lewis says.

"I'm having fun with it. I'm also learning, just like the ArtsCorp kids. I know a little bit, but not a lot of the ins and outs. DJ Supa Sam is the one that helped me with everything, pretty much. It's really different, the way they run a radio show."

Off the court, Lewis is already an All-Star. He's well on his way to earning that same designation on the court as well.