David Lee is headed to the Big D.
Lee and Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd have been named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured West All-Star guard Kobe Bryant (ankle) of the Los Angeles Lakers and East All-Star guard Allen Iverson (personal reasons) of the Philadelphia 76ers, respectively, in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas.
Lee, in his fifth NBA season, has recorded 30 double-doubles on the season for the Knicks and will be making his first NBA All-Star appearance. The announcement comes one day after Lee was selected for the U.S. national team pool that will compete at the World Championships in Turkey in August.
Lee is the first Knicks’ All-Star since Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell in 2001.
He will be joined in Dallas by Knicks teammates Nate Robinson, who will defend his Slam Dunk title despite a groin injury, and Danilo Gallinari, who’s participating in the 3-Point Shooting contest.
Lee becomes the second American-born white player in this year’s game, following Chris Kaman of the Clippers.
As Daily News writer Frank Isola pointed out, the last American-born white player to play in the All-Star Game was Brad Miller in 2003 and 2004. Wally Szczerbiak and John Stockton also played in the All-Star Game.
Kidd, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time All-NBA First Team selection, will be making his 10th NBA All-Star Game appearance.
West All-Star head coach George Karl and East All-Star head coach Stan Van Gundy will determine which players will replace Bryant and Iverson in the starting lineup.
The NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
(Photo courtesy DimeMag.com)
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