Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard voted 2021 NBA All-Star Starter

The 2020-21 NBA season is scheduled to have an All-Star Game, and we know for certain there will be LA Clippers representation among the players honored, as Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was voted an All-Star Starter, the news revealed Thursday. Leonard is averaging a career-best 26.7 points and 5.0 assists per game while helping lead the Clippers to the third-best record in the league.

Leonard finished third in fan voting, fourth in player voting, and third among media members. He was also a starter last year in his first season with the Clippers. The All-Star selection is Leonard’s fifth of his 10-year career (joining 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020), and as the reigning NBA All-Star MVP, he’ll be expected to light it up in Atlanta on March 7. As part of the “festivities” around the annual event, the league and NBPA will pledge $2.5 million to both Historically Black Colleges and Universities and outreach and support about the COVID vaccine and treatment of the virus.

Leonard himself has been publicly ambivalent about participating in an All-Star Game this year, but to be selected remains in itself a significant honor, particularly to be named a starter in the NBA’s All-Star Game, arguably the marquee All-Star game in American sports. Congrats to Kawhi for the latest honor.