For the second straight season, the Knicks have a pair of All-Stars, but this time they are in the starting lineup.
Karl-Anthony Towns, the center brought over from Minnesota this past offseason, and team captain Jalen Brunson were selected as Eastern Conference starters on Thursday night. They are the first Knicks to earn an All-Star starter nod since 2016 when Carmelo Anthony was selected. They are the first Knicks duo to be named All-Star starters since Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe in 1975.
Towns’ credentials to be an All-Star starter are obvious. He’s had an outstanding first season for the Knicks, averaging 25.1 points — on 54.5 percent shooting — 13.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 40 games this season. The center is second in all of the NBA in rebounding and in the top 10 in multiple other categories.
This is Towns’ fifth All-Star selection, first as a starter.
And then there’s Brunson. The de facto team captain has helped the Knicks to a 29-16 record while leading the team in points (26.0) and assists (7.3). This is Brunson’s second All-Star selection — his first came last season — and his first as a starter.
It wasn’t a guarantee Brunson would be a starter as he was behind Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard in fan voting for guards when early voting was revealed last week. However, fans account for 50 percent of the vote with players and media accounting for the final 50 percent.
Brunson finished third in fan voting, and second in player and media voting.
Towns seemed like a relative lock to win a spot as a starter. He was firmly third in fan voting entering Thursday — behind Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston’s Jayson Tatum. Towns finished third in all three voting metrics.
Brunson and Towns will be joined by Mitchell, Giannis and Tatum when the 2025 All-Star game emanates from the Bay Area on Feb. 16.
