Team LeBron has a new face after yet another injury shelved one of its players. Kemba Walker will take over for Kristaps Porzingis, who was shut down after tearing a ligament in his knee. Porzingis marked the fourth player to go down from Team LeBron, and the second to suffer a season-ending injury (DeMarcus Cousins tore his ACL against the Rockets). LeBron James' team is starting to look like more of a checklist than a team (he hand-selected them), but it's still a good opportunity for Walker.
Charlotte's Kemba Walker has replaced Kristaps Porzingis in the 2018 NBA All-Star game.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 8, 2018
It's a well-earned one to boot. Walker is averaging 22.6 points per game just shy of six assists. He's right around the career-high 23.2 points per game that he averaged in 2016, though his Hornets are currently four games out of a playoff spot. Walker certainly seemed like the logical next choice, although there were other options on the table. Paul George, of course, replaced Cousins on the team (as the new player had to be from the Western Conference).
Goran Dragic then replaced Kevin Love when Love injured his hand, and Andre Drummond replaced John Wall. It's been a rough stretch, so the next step is presumably to wrap Walker in bubble wrap to make sure that the Hornets' only asset doesn't get hurt too.
Whether or not Walker should have been this low on the list can be debated, but he's in now. The All-Star weekend will take place Feb. 16-18, as we see if Team LeBron is able to survive the exhibition weekend.
