INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis was named an NBA All-Star Thursday for the first time in his career.
Sabonis, who arrived with the Pacers along with Victor Oladipo in a 2017 trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder for Paul George, is averaging 18.0 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game and will play as a reserve in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game Feb. 16 in Chicago.
“This is a great honor personally, but more importantly a great honor for my teammates, my coaches and the entire Pacers’ franchise,” Sabonis said in a release provided by the team. “This is a result of being a team in the truest sense of the word and our record reflects that. I look forward to representing the Pacers, Indianapolis and Indiana at All-Star weekend.”
He had the first triple-double of his career Jan. 19 at Denver when he recorded 22 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and followed it with another Sunday at Portland when he had 27 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
Sabonis is the 14th Pacers player to be named to the All-Star team. Previous Pacers all-stars included Don Buse, Billy Knight, Reggie Miller, Detlef Schrempf, Rik Smits, Dale Davis, Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, George and Oladipo.
Indianapolis will host the NBA All-Star Game next season for the first time since 1985.
