Bulls' LaVine passed over for all-star reserve
Zach LaVine's long-shot bid for the NBA All-Star Game was officially denied on Thursday. He was not one of the seven players named an Eastern Conference reserve.
It's still possible LaVine could be added late as an injury replacement. He's likely to participate in at least one of the All-Star Weekend events, like the 3-point or dunk contests.
According to a Twitter report, Orlando's Aaron Gordon has decided to participate in this year's dunk contest at the United Center. LaVine and Gordon engaged in one of the most epic dunk battles in all-star history in 2016, won by LaVine. So maybe Gordon will lure LaVine out of retirement, but the Bulls guard has expressed a preference for the 3-point contest.
The Eastern Conference reserves are Miami's Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Milwaukee's Khris Middleton, Toronto's Kyle Lowry, Boston's Jayson Tatum, Philadelphia's Ben Simmons and Indiana's Domantas Sabonis.
The West reserves are Portland's Damian Lillard, Houston's Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City's Chris Paul, New Orleans' Brandon Ingram, Denver's Nikola Jokic, along with Utah's Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.