UCLA Alumnus Zach LaVine Earns Spot on NBA All-Star Team
The wins just keep rolling in for Zach LaVine.
In the midst of leading the Chicago Bulls to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference midway through the season, former UCLA men's basketball guard Zach LaVine has earned a spot in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game. LaVine will be a reserve for the second year in a row.
LaVine is averaging 24.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in his eighth season since leaving the Bruins. LaVine is a few percentage points shy of the coveted 50/40/90 season, currently shooting 48.4% from the field, 39.5% from deep and 87.4% from the free throw line.
After finishing seventh in the scoring race a year ago, LaVine currently ranks No. 12 in the NBA in points per game.
LaVine was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, getting scooped up by the Minnesota Timberwolves. By his third season, LaVine was an everyday starter putting up 18.9 points per game, but a season-ending injury knocked him out in the midst of that breakout year.
The Timberwolves dealt LaVine to the Bulls for Jimmy Butler in 2017, and after a partial season recovering from the injury, the former Bruin burst onto the scene with 23.7 points per game in 2018-2019. LaVine has averaged 25.4 points per game since arriving in Chicago, but the Bulls didn't see those scoring numbers turn into many wins prior to this season.
Another former UCLA standout, Lonzo Ball, signed with Chicago in the offseason, and DeMar DeRozan arrived out of free agency as well. DeRozan is a starter for the East in the All-Star Game this season, so behind him, LaVine and Ball, the Bulls are sitting atop the conference at 32-18.
LaVine averaged 9.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in his lone year at UCLA, primarily coming off the bench for coach Steve Alford. That Bruin squad made it to the 2014 Sweet 16, finishing 28-9, and that was the last time LaVine appeared in a postseason game at any level.
With the Bulls in the driver's seat and Ball and guard Alex Caruso set to return from injury in a few weeks, that is on pace to change in 2022.
Other former UCLA standouts, Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday and Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, were not selected to the All-Star Game. Westbrook has made nine All-Star Games in his career, while Holiday has one.
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