Knicks’ Julius Randle named as NBA All-Star reserve for 2nd time, Jalen Brunson fall short

New York Knicks forward Julius Randle is now a two-time NBA All-Star. Unfortunately, his new point guard Jalen Brunson didn’t make the cut.

Randle was named as one of the seven NBA All-Star reserves for the Eastern Conference Thursday night, joining Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan, Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Miami’s Bam Adebayo.

Randle will earn a $1.2 million bonus for this feat, according to ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks.

The Knicks All-Star forward is averaging 24.7 points and 10.9 rebounds, both career highs, and 4.1 assists. He has 32 double-double games, the third-most this season behind fellow All-Stars Domantas Sabonis (39) and Nikola Jokic (34) entering Thursday’s match against the Miami Heat.

Meanwhile, Inside the NBA on TNT host, Charles Barkley was shocked Brunson was snubbed. While Kenny Smith also voted for Brunson, he said it’s hard for the seventh-seed Knicks to have two All-Stars.

Brunson is having a career year in his debut season with the Knicks, averaging 22.8 points and 6.2 assists while ranking among the top three clutch players in the league behind All-Stars DeRozan and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox.

Another star in the Eastern Conference who got snubbed was Philadelphia’s James Harden.