Pacers Coach Says Domantas Sabonis Deserves to Be Named All-Star
The Indiana Pacers have been one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference this season. One of the critical elements to that success has been the play of Domantas Sabonis in the frontcourt.
It remains to be seen whether Sabonis will end up being named an NBA All-Star or not, but Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren feels as though he is well-deserving of the honor.
“His stats speak for themselves,” Bjorkgren said, via IndyStar's J. Michael. “He deserves to be an All-Star. He’s got my 1,000% backing on it. He continues to play great team basketball, and he’ll get rewarded for that.”
In 29 appearances, Sabonis has provided the Pacers with averages of 21.5 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. While those figures are impressive, there are no shortage of talented players in the Eastern Conference who are in contention for an All-Star spot.
Being a player who is a member of a small market team has its disadvantages for All-Star voting, but the coaches will be the ones to decide the reserves. Sabonis appears to have a strong chance of earning one of the 12 spots this way.
The Eastern Conference All-Star starters were already named and included Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid. There was no controversy there given all of those players were expected to be starters.
Where they could be some room for surprise is in the reserves. Nikola Vucevic has been playing at a very high-level with Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, Bam Adebayo, and Jerami Grant, to name a few. Among them is Domantas Sabonis, too.
