The NBA's All-Star weekend is set for the last weekend in February and the starters for both Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams have been set. For the West, the starters are Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum. The Oklahoma City Thunder already has one player in the All-Star game, Kevin Durant, but there's a chance they could have two.
The NBA is announcing their All-Star reserve players tonight on TNT at 7 p.m. (ET) and one of the players that could be named is Thunder guard Russell Westbrook.
ESPN's Marc Stein believes that Westbrook will be named to the All-Star reserve roster.
The unflattering reviews of Westbrook's quarterback play from early in the season are gradually starting to fade. Like a lot of us, I'd still prefer to see Kevin Durant playing alongside a more pass-minded point guard, but Westbrook is inching away from his defiant approach and is back to being OKC's best player some nights. Which means his second straight selection to the West All-Stars is just a formality.
SB Nation's Tom Ziller also believes that Westbrook will be named to the team.
GUARD NO. 1: Russell Westbrook. The fourth-year guard had a slow start, but he's been a beast of late and is playing as well as he did in his All-Star 2011 campaign. This isn't about rewarding the Thunder; it's about rewarding one of the league's very best guards, a guy who would be a legitimate starting option had Chris Paul been traded East.
Westbrook is averaging 22.3 points per game this season, the most he has throughout his four-year career.
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