The Case for Our All-Stars
At first glance, the Celtics roster looks like it has one All-Star on it, two at most. Kemba Walker is the obvious choice, as he’s been a pretty consistent All-Star level player throughout his career. Then there’s Jayson Tatum, the second best player on one of the top teams in the East, averaging All-Star type numbers. But what case does each person have for the All-Star team? In my opinion, there are legitimately four guys on the Celtics who could have a case for the All-Star team - Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Jaylen Brown.
Kemba Walker
Kemba Walker will be an All-Star this season. He’s the lead guy on the second best team in the Eastern Conference. For the most part, if your team is in the top 5 in your conference, you’ll have an All-Star, and Kemba’s that guy in Boston. He’s averaging a team high 21.8 points to go along with 4.6 rebounds and 5 assists a game. Those are great numbers when you consider the amount of talent he has behind him. Walker stepped into his role and is thriving in a city that is not easy to please. With the loss of Kyrie, many people believed the team would take a step back, but Kemba made sure that didn’t happen.
Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum should be an All-Star this season. The Celtics are good enough where the team deserves to have two All-Stars, just like the Bucks do. Tatum is the second best guy on a winning team, who’s putting up pretty similar numbers to Kemba considering he’s supposed to be the “second option”. Tatum’s scoring 21.2 points a game, to go with his 7 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He’s also averaging a team high 1.4 steals per game. Some people could argue that these are even better numbers than Kemba Walker. If Kemba is going to be an All-Star this season, Tatum deserves to be one, too.
Gordon Hayward
Gordon Hayward could be an All-Star this season. Before he went down with a broken hand, he was in some conversations to be an All-Star. He’s projected to come back if not in tonight’s game, then sometime in the near future. Before he got injured, he was averaging 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists. These types of all-around numbers are what makes him a legit All-Star candidate. For a long while, he was averaging around 21 points a game. That’s exactly what Tatum and Kemba are putting up, and people have them in the conversation without question. If he can come back and start putting up 20+ points a night, then I think people might look his way when it comes time to vote for All-Stars.
Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown could be an All-Star this season. This is my favorite case to make, because while he’s not normally seen as a guy who would get All-Star votes, he’s quietly putting up numbers that are scarily similar to Tatum’s. Some could even say they’re better when you take a deeper look. Brown’s averaging 20 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game, along with 1.2 steals. Now, at first glance, these look similar, yet slightly worse than Tatum’s numbers. However, Tatum is shooting 41.2% from the field and 35.7% from three. Kemba is shooting 41.3% from the field and 39.5% from three. Then there’s Brown, who’s shooting a monster 49.6% from the field and 38.5% from three. Those percentages are significantly better from the field than either of the two guys who are consistently in All-Star conversation. All I’m saying is that Brown should get more love when it comes to this conversation, because he very well could be considered an All-Star this season.
