The NBA announced today that Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers was named an Eastern Conference starter for the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago. It’s Embiid’s third consecutive All-Star Game selection after being named a starter in each of the past two seasons. He’s the first 76ers player to be named a starter in three straight All-Star Games since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson started seven straight from 2000-06. Embiid is also the eighth player in franchise history to be named an All-Star starter three times, matching Wilt Chamberlain with his third selection.
“Congratulations to Joel on being named an All-Star starter for the third consecutive season,” said Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Elton Brand. “Through his continued hard work and intense desire to win, Joel has quickly established himself as one of our game’s most dominant players and a cornerstone of our franchise. His combination of power and finesse is truly special, as is the unique connection he’s made to our fans in Philadelphia. This is well-deserved, and we look forward to Joel representing the Philadelphia 76ers in Chicago during All-Star Weekend.
In his fourth NBA season, Embiid holds averages of 23.4 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. He and fellow All-Star starter Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only two players in the league averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds and one block per game. Embiid has posted a team-best 24 double-doubles (sixth in East) in his 31 games, while his 21 games with 20 points and 10 rebounds are tied for the second-most in the NBA, behind only Antetokounmpo.
Embiid is one of four Eastern Conference players, and one of seven league-wide, averaging at least eight free-throw attempts per game, making at least 10 free throws on nine occasions. In five of those 10 free-throw games, Embiid has scored 30-plus points, something he’s done a team-leading eight times this season. On Dec. 12, Embiid joined Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes (twice) as the only 76ers ever to post at least 38 points, 16 rebounds and six assists against the Celtics.
Defensively, Embiid ranks sixth in the East with an individual defensive rating of 99.5. He’s one of eight-players league-wide with a mark below 100. Embiid, Antetokounmpo and Detroit’s Andre Drummond are the only three Eastern Conference players averaging at least 1.0 blocks and 12.0 rebounds per contest.
On Nov. 15 at Oklahoma City, Embiid’s 166th career game, Embiid surpassed 4,000 points, becoming the second-fastest 76er to reach the mark, behind only Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain. The Cameroon native would later collect his 2,000th career rebound in his 174th game, becoming the fastest NBA player to reach the mark since Tim Duncan in 1999. The only 76er ever to post 2,000 career rebounds faster than Embiid was Hall of Famer George McGinnis in 1977.
In the Eastern Conference frontcourt, Embiid finished third in fan voting and second in both player and media voting.
Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the NBA All-Star Game starters, while current NBA players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each.
After all votes were tallied, players were ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The two guards and three frontcourt players with the best score in each conference were named NBA All-Star Game starters.
