Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns Named to All-Star Game

Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns have been chosen for the All-Star game, which will take place February 18th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Butler and Towns will be the first Timberwolves All-Stars since Kevin Love last made it in a Wolves uniform in 2014. It is the fist time since 2004 (Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell) that the Wolves will have two representatives in the game, and the third time overall (2002, Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak, and 1997, Garnett and Tom Gugliotta.)

Butler makes his fourth straight All-Star team, the previous three with the Chicago Bulls. His arrival in Minnesota has helped transform a perennial loser into a team with a chance to host a playoff series. His two-way play and fourth quarter heroics have been huge as the Wolves climb their way out of what has been a brutally long stretch of bad basketball.

Towns meanwhile will be making his first All-Star appearance in his third NBA season. He’s taken a major step forward on defense over the last couple of months to go along with his brilliant offensive game. He’s one of the top big men in the NBA now, and after winning the skills challenge as a rookie in 2016, gets to participate in the main event.

Butler and Towns will be in the reserves draft pool for captains LeBron James and Stephen Curry. First these two will choose from the eight remaining starters:

Kyrie Irving
Kevin Durant
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
Joel Embiid
DeMar Derozan
James Harden
Giannis Antetokounmpo

After that, they will pick their reserves, winding up with a 12 player roster for each side, without regard to conferences. That means that Butler and Towns could wind up on opposite sides for the game.

Unfortunately, despite plenty of agitating, the league will not televise the selections.