WALTHAMBarring one of those 15-seed-knocking-off-a-2-seed upsets you see in the NCAA tournament, Celtics guard Rajon Rondo will officially be an All-Star starter for the first time in his career after tonight's announcement at 7 p.m. on TNT.
Rondo will be making his fourth straight All-Star appearance if, as expected, he's chosen to start next month's game.
When the last vote total was announced earlier this month, Rondo was second in the East among guards to Miami's Dwyane Wade.
At that time, Rondo had 675,822 votes, which trailed Wade's 765,077. Of greater significance is the gap that exists between Rondo and the next in line, Brooklyn's Deron Williams.
Rondo's vote total nearly doubled that of Williams, who at the time had 350,618 votes, making it nearly impossible for Rondo to leap-frogged by Williams.
Of course it didn't hurt Rondo's chances that Chicago's Derrick Rose has not played in a single game all season.
But more than that, him being a starter -- which is voted on by the fans -- speaks to how Rondo's game has been embraced by fans across the globe.
Boston Celtics
"I'm an entertainer. I play for myself, my family and the fans," Rondo said. "I try to put on a show. Obviously, they like what I've been doing the past couple of years."
Rondo has finished third among fan voting each of the last two seasons, with the top-two vote getters in the backcourt being named starters. Each of his three previous All-Star appearances came after the coaches elected him to the all-star team as a reserve.
While Rondo has been recognized previously as one of the game's best, being named an All-Star starter puts him in a different light, the kind that puts a clear and distinct imprint on him starting to put some separation between his individual success and that of the Celtics and their famed Big Three triumvirate that used to consist of Ray Allen (now with the Miami Heat), Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Coach Doc Rivers, a former All-Star (1988) himself, doesn't need to see Rondo called out with the other all-star starters to know how special a talent the 6-foot-1 guard is for the C's.
"For Rondo, it's great for him to be on the All-Star team," Rivers said. "It tells us that he's an All-Star. But I knew that before the year started. I don't need any voters to tell me Rondo's an All-Star. What we want him and Paul and Kevin and all those guys, we want them to be All-Stars every day."