The NBA announced tonight that Jimmy Butler has been selected to the 2022 NBA All-Star Team. This marks Butler’s sixth career selection and second with the HEAT after also being selected in 2020. Miami has now currently had at least one All-Star in 16 of the last 18 seasons. The 71st NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, February 20 at 8PM on TNT in Cleveland, OH.
Butler has appeared in 33 games (all starts) this season and averaged a team-leading 21.8 points, 6.4 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1.94 steals and 34.3 minutes while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 88.7 percent from the foul line as he is the only player in the NBA averaging at least that many points, assists, rebounds and steals. Butler has posted four triple-doubles this season, already tying the most during a single season in franchise history and now has totaled 11 as a member of the HEAT, the most in team history. He has made a team-leading 235 free throws this season, including a perfect 16-of-16 game on January 28 vs. the Clippers which marked as the most made from the stripe in a game without a miss in team history. He also connected on a career-long 42 consecutive free throws from December 26 through January 16, which also tied the second-longest streak in HEAT history. Butler scored 25 points and dished out a career-high 15 assists on December 28 vs. Washington, marking as just the eighth 25-point, 15-assist game in team history and just the fifth player to accomplish the feat, joining Dwyane Wade (three times), Tim Hardway (twice), LeBron James (once) and Goran Dragić (once). He also scored 36 points, tying his career-high of 15 made field goals, while recording five steals on October 25 vs. Orlando, marking as just the 12th game in team history a player tallied at least 36 points and five steals. Among league leaders, Butler ranks second in steals per game, eighth in free throw percentage, 17th in assists per game and 21st in scoring average.