All-Star

For the first time since 2008, the Washington Wizards have a player playing in the All-Star game. Not the skills challenge or the three point contest or the dunk contest. The All-Star game. The main event on Sunday. The starters, selected by fan voting (which explains Kyrie Irving starting for the Eastern Conference), were announced last Thursday. Today the reserves, selected by the coaches, were announced and John Wall was among the additional seven in the East selected to participate. John is the first Wizards player to appear in the game since Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison in 2008. 2008 was the fourth consecutive game to feature at least one player from our local five.

I hesitate to call John's selection a sure thing, because I don't think any success for the Wizards is a sure thing, but every writer's list I saw prior to today's announcement had John representing the East on February 16. It is surely well deserved. Not only is the team playing better, but John is showing the ability to make his teammates better. Maybe it's just in its infancy (he would, after all, be a rookie if he had stayed in school four years) but he's finally showing this year the ability to be a perennial All-Star in this league. He's clearly the most important player on a squad that is much improved this season. The numbers speak for themselves.

• Points Per Game: 19.8 (18th in NBA / 7th in Eastern Conference / Career High)
• Assists Per Game: 8.5 (4th in NBA / 1st in Eastern Conference / Career High)
• Steals Per Game: 1.93 (5th in NBA / 3rd in Eastern Conference / Career High)
• Three Point FG Made: 102 (More then first three years in league combined)
• Three Point FG Percentage: 32.5% (Career High)
• Free Throw Attempts: 245 (17th in NBA / 6th in Eastern Conference)
• Free Throw Percentage: 84.1% (26th in NBA / 8th in Eastern Conference / Career High)
• Team Record: 22-23 (6th in Eastern Conference)

To be in the top 10 in five significant statistical categories is really pretty outstanding I think, even if the Eastern Conference this year is not stocked with ringers (the numbers above reflect the disparity between the two conferences). To do all that while also having the Wizards in playoff position is also pretty important. Yes, even this year in the Eastern Conference and John is clearly the guy who makes this team go. And for those of you scoffing at the 32.5% three point percentage, consider that John shot 7.1% two years ago. That's a fourfold improvement.

I typically do not watch the All-Star game. In fact I usually take care to NOT watch it. Even when Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison made their multiple appearances in the mid-season showcase, I didn't tune in for the whole thing. Our guys just didn't get much floor time. The last time I watched anything associated with All-Star weekend was JaVale McGee getting robbed in the dunk contest by Blake Griffin in 2011 (actually he got robbed by fan votes - see my note about Kyrie Irving above). But this year, I'll be reserving a little time on Sunday and hoping John shows the entire country what kind of a spectacular player he is since he never gets any national TV exposure. Congratulations, John!

And, yes, I did vote for John to be a starter.