BULLS 101

After weeks of lobbying from fans, media, teammates and coaches alike, Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng has been rewarded with a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. This is Deng's first All-Star selection and he has now become the 14th All-Star in franchise history. Deng will be joining Derrick Rose and possibly coach Tom Thibodeau for the All-Star festivities later this month in Orlando. 

Deng is averaging 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds on 43.9 percent shooting, which on the surface, do not look like All-Star type numbers. But Deng's effectiveness and importance go beyond those basic statistics. He plays the most minutes on one of the league's best teams and is perhaps the Bulls' best defender. We also saw how important Deng is to the Bulls when he missed a couple weeks due to injury. The Bulls struggled in his absence, losing three games and not playing nearly as good of defense as usual. 

One could argue that there were other candidates more deserving or at least as deserving as Deng, and while I would somewhat agree, he was certainly a worthy choice. There's usually not a big difference between a lot of the fringe guys, so I'm not surprised the coaches decided to go with a second Bull. And because this happened, it marks the first time since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were selected to the All-Star team in 1997 that two Bulls were picked. 

Now that Deng has made the roster, the question is whether he will play or rest his left wrist injury. I'm sure Thibs (the likely East coach) would love to play Deng 40+ minutes in the game, but it may be better for Lu to just show up and enjoy the atmosphere. But if he wants to suit up and play a bit, I really can't blame him. 

Along with Deng, the other East reserves are Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, Roy Hibbert and Andre Iguodala. The West reserves are Dirk Nowitzki, Russell Westbrook, Steve Nash, Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge. 

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