Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert named to NBA All-Star team

Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are headed to Atlanta.

The Utah Jazz franchise cornerstones have been named as reserves for the Western Conference in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, as voted by coaches. The All-Star Game will be held on March 7.

It’s the second consecutive All-Star appearance for both Mitchell and Gobert. The two will join head coach Quin Snyder in Atlanta, as he was named the Western Conference head coach by virtue of the Jazz’s 25-6 record, the best in the conference.

The reserves were officially announced on TNT Tuesday. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the news prior to the TNT presentation.

Mitchell leads the Jazz in scoring with 24.5 points per game and is adding 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds per contest. Gobert has been Utah’s defensive anchor, averaging nearly three blocks per game. He has scored 13.9 points per game with 13.5 rebounds per contest.

Jazz players and coaches pushed hard to get Mike Conley in the All-Star game, but he was not selected. With Anthony Davis out due to an injury, someone in the West will replace him, and it could be Conley. Conley has been instrumental in Utah’s success, averaging 16.4 points per game and 5.6 assists per game.

Conley has yet to receive an All-Star nod in his 14-year career.

Former Weber State star Damian Lillard has been named an All-Star for the sixth time in his career. It’s the fourth consecutive All-Star nod for Lillard.

This year’s All-Star Game will follow the same format as last season’s. LeBron James and Kevin Durant have been named the captains and will draft their teams on March 4. James and Durant will be able to pick from the pool of starters and reserves for their teams, regardless of conference.

The two All-Stars teams will play three 12-minute quarters. The team that wins each quarter will have money donated to their chosen charity. In the fourth quarter, each of the team’s points from all three quarters will be tallied, adding 24 points to the leading team’s score to get the target score for the game.

For example, if LeBron’s team was ahead 100-90 after three quarters, the target score would be 124. The fourth quarter is played without a clock, and the first team to get to reach 124 points (24 more points for LeBron’s team, 34 more points for Durant’s teams) wins.