The time is right for 1st-time All-Star Kyle Korver
Everything has come together for Kyle Korver, one of the Hawks' four All-Stars. It's time for him to shine.
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4 min read
NEW YORK — Kyle Korver is not a star in the typical sense. He was drafted No. 51 overall. He's been traded for essentially nothing. He's in his 12th year and he's never averaged as many as 15 points, five rebounds or three assists. Mere months ago, if you’d told the Atlanta Hawks guard he’d be playing in Sunday’s All-Star Game, he wouldn’t have believed it.
"It's really amazing," Korver said, seated in the same crammed hotel ballroom where reporters swarmed the likes of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. “I’ve never been like a basketball prodigy. I’ve never kind of been at these types of things.”
Korver’s here because he’s making history, shooting 51 percent from the field, 52 percent from the 3-point line and 91 percent from the free throw line. He’s here because the Hawks are 43-11, easily the best team in the Eastern Conference. Korver credits great coaching, great teammates and the fact he feels healthier than ever before. It is all of that, as well as the fact that it’s the perfect time.
Today’s NBA isn’t so much about incredible isolation scorers making impossible-looking shots. Just about everybody is imitating the San Antonio Spurs, who imitated the seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns. Atlanta is the most extreme example, but even the 2010-2014 Miami Heat, stacked with superstars, had to place a premium on ball movement, speed and spacing. Korver would fit perfectly on any team like this. Through what he calls simply “doing the daily work,” he’s turned into just about the best role player imaginable.
“I’ve never been a big dribbler,” Korver said, chuckling. “How do you score in the NBA when you’re not dribbling? You gotta learn how to play without the ball because if you’re making your shots, people don’t just leave you. It’s been a lot of years of just trying to get better at it, and being in good systems where you get good screens.”
He doesn’t make bad decisions. He never forces anything. He believes in what Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer preaches. Anyone trying to implement this brand of basketball dreams of having a Korver-like weapon at his disposal.
“Korver deserves to be here,” Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s having the greatest shooting season of anybody ever. The numbers are off the charts. But it goes beyond the shooting. It’s what he does to the defense because of the threat of his shooting, the screens that he sets, the way he opens up his teammates. He’s turned into a great player.”
Just before the NBA announced its All-Star reserves, Milwaukee Bucks swingman Jared Dudley tweeted that, speaking for all role players, he hoped Korver would be chosen. Korver missed the cut at first, but commissioner Adam Silver selected him as Dwyane Wade’s injury replacement. The fact that he seemed such an obvious choice says only good things about the state of the game.
“I just think what he’s doing is so historic and the team is winning at such a high volume that, if he doesn’t get in now, when will another role player?” Dudley said. “They do have three [other] All-Stars, but arguably a lot of those guys are All-Stars because of him and his spacing and what he provides.”
J.J. Redick texted Korver his congratulations after the news came out. The Los Angeles Clippers sharpshooter doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to do what Korver is doing. He sounded almost in awe when he said making half your shots when the majority of them come from behind the 3-point line is “crazy,” adding that Korver is proving it’s possible.
“I applaud the decision makers, after Dwyane backed out of the game to rest, for naming Kyle an All-Star because what he’s done for such a great team is paramount,” Redick said. “His ability to to spread the floor for them, move off the ball, it’s what makes them go. It’s what makes them tough to defend. And it’s a big reason they’ve had such great team success. I always think the NBA should reward team success.”
Redick added, “There’s always going to be a place for guys that play really hard and can shoot the crap out of the ball.”
Normally not considered more than a specialist, it’s understandable that Korver isn’t used to this sort of spotlight. He called it an incredible honor, though, and said that you can take things for granted when they happen too early, too easily. That certainly hasn’t been the case for him. It’s a marvelous thing for both the man and the league that he’s being acknowledged and appreciated.
“All-Star’s never really been on my radar, it’s never been a goal,” Korver said. “I love to play basketball. I love working at it. I think a lot of things have come together for me in the last couple of years.”
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