The only Atlanta Hawks starter not selected to the All-Star game is sixth year pro, DeMarre Carroll. However, he was recognized by the league last week, along with the rest of the Hawks starters, when the entire lineup was selected as players of the month for January, an unprecedented honor after the Hawks became the first team in NBA history to go 17-0 in a calendar month.
The Eastern Conference leading Hawks (43-10) already had Paul Millsap, Al Horford and Jeff Teague selected to the team as reserves. Kyle Korver was added to the roster on Tuesday to replace injured Dwayne Wade.
All five starters average double digits during their remarkable month. Paul Millsap (18.3 ppg in January), Al Horford (17.1 ppg), Jeff Teague (16.6 ppg) and Kyle Korver (13.4 ppg) all started each of the 16 games they appeared in for the month, and DeMarre Carroll (12.3 ppg) started all 14 of his games.
Carroll has started 45 games this season for Atlanta, averaging 31 1/2 minutes per game. He’s shooting 47% from the floor and 40% from three-point range, while averaging 12 points per game. This is his second season with the Hawks and his numbers are pretty are par from what they were a year ago.
Last year, Carroll started all 73 games he played in, averaging 11 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, both career highs. Prior to coming to Atlanta, Carroll had started just 22 games over his first four seasons in the NBA.
Carroll is often assigned to covering the opponent’s best player on the floor. Carroll proving his worth in the NBA, far more than the offensive numbers suggest.