Great Britain's Luol Deng to make NBA history
- Published
Deng is enjoying another successful season with Chicago
Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng is set to become the first Briton to play in the NBA's annual All-Star Game.
Deng, 26, is in his eighth season with the Bulls and was picked following a poll of the league's coaches.
"Words can't describe how happy I am - thanks to all my supporters especially the coaches who voted for me," Deng wrote on Twitter.
The game, played between the NBA's East and West conferences, takes place in Orlando, Florida on 26 February.
Fellow GB players praised him for his feat on Twitter.
The team's captain, Andrew Sullivan tweeted: "Congrats to @LuolDeng9 for FINALLY being named to the Eastern Conference Allstar team. Long long time overdue. Well done mate #RepGBwell bro."
Pops Mensah-Bonsu, also expected to be in the GB's London 2012 squad, tweeted: "Major congrats to my boy @LuolDeng9 for being selected to the Allstar team, long overdue and well deserved. London in the building!!!!!!"
The five starting players for each team are voted for by the fans, with the remaining seven players decided by the coaches.
Deng's Chicago Bulls team-mate Derrick Rose is among the five starters in the Eastern Conference squad, along with superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.
Deng starred for Great Britain's team in last summer's Eurobasket finals in Lithuania, when he averaged a tournament-high 24.9 points per game in his five outings.
This season at Chicago, he has averaged 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game with the team again outperforming the star-studded Miami to lead the Eastern conference standings.