For the first time in a half-century, the Knicks have two All-Star starters.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were both named to the Eastern Conference squad for the Feb. 16 game in San Francisco, the NBA announced Thursday.
Brunson was a bit of a surprise after finishing third in the fan voting among Eastern Conference guards, but the combination of media and player ballots put him over the top.
He snuck past LaMelo Ball, who was first in the fan voting but was seventh in the media vote and third in player voting.
Winning and availability clearly mattered more to the media regarding Ball, who has missed over a third of the season for his 11-29 Charlotte team.
Brunson was second in the player and media voting — only behind Donovan Mitchell in both. Towns was third in fan, media and player voting among Eastern Conference frontcourt players.
The other East starters are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Mitchell. The West starters are Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
Clyde Frazier and Earl Monroe were the previous Knicks to start in the same All-Star Game in 1975.
The Knicks (29-16) are third in the East and on pace to win 53 games.
For Brunson, it’s a second All-Star selection after debuting last season. The Knicks captain is averaging 26.0 points and a career-high 7.3 assists.
For Towns, it’s a fifth All-Star selection but first as a starter. It was more difficult to start in the West in recent years with Jokic, James, Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis.
But Towns is also enjoying his best rebounding season with a conference-leading 13.9 per game.
He’s averaging 25.1 points — his most since 2019-20 — and is the first Knicks All-Star center since Tyson Chandler in 2013 (Kristaps Porzingis was a power forward in 2018).
Already a 3-point contest and Skills Competition winner, it’s unclear if Towns would again participate in one of those at the All-Star Weekend in San Fran.
He didn’t seem too eager when asked earlier this month — and he’s now dealing with a thumb injury that is impacting his 3-point shot.
Brunson lost in the 3-point competition last year.
The voting results appeased Knicks fans and the de facto team spokesman, Josh Hart, who tweeted before the announcements, “If 11 [Brunson] and 32 [Towns] aren’t starters….We Riot.”
In an attempt to add intrigue to the All-Star Game and compel the players to try harder, commissioner Adam Silver again altered the format for this year.
It’ll be a tournament style with four teams of eight players. One of the teams will be composed of rookies and sophomores from The Rising Stars Challenge.
The rosters for the three NBA All-Star teams will be drafted by TNT analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal on Feb. 6.
Like its recent predecessors, last year’s All-Star Game was devoid of defense, difficult to take seriously and was a disappointment in the TV ratings. Brunson explained earlier this season why the NBA is in quandary.
“We’re in the era of load management,” Brunson told The Post. “So if somebody gets hurt out there — knock on wood — but there’s a lot of what-ifs out there in a game where the franchise is putting a lot on a player. And if they go out there and play hard and something happens, obviously you hope it doesn’t happen but, what do you do?”
The Knicks haven’t started even one All-Star in nine years, not since Carmelo Anthony in 2016. Julius Randle was voted thrice as a reserve.
Josh Hart highlighted other Knicks results by collecting 18 player votes to start for the East, tying Tyrese Haliburton, Tyler Herro and Derrick White for 10th among backcourt players.
For some reason, Mikal Bridges was listed for the frontcourt and got 22 player votes, good for 11th in the East. OG Anunoby got 21 player votes for the East frontcourt.
Rookies Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet each received one player vote.