National Basketball Association

Dennis Clifford of Santa Cruz Warriors Selected as D-League All-Star

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:46 p.m. ET

Fansided, Angelo Mendoza/FanSided via Blue Man Hoop

Santa Cruz Warriors announce that center Dennis Clifford has been selected as a 2017 NBA D-League Western Conference All-Star.

Everyone that has been watching the Santa Cruz Warriors (17-13) this year will more than likely describe Dennis Clifford as a pleasant surprise. The 24-year-old big man out of Boston College went undrafted in 2016, earning a permanent spot on the Sea Dubs roster after coming in as a local tryout.

Now having become a staple in the Santa Cruz system, it was honestly not all too surprising when the team announced Monday that Clifford would be representing Surf City in New Orleans as a 2017 NBA D-League Western Conference All-Star.

Appearing in 29 games (26 starts) this year for Santa Cruz, Clifford currently averages 12.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks on 57.7 percent shooting from the field in an incredibly efficient 27.1 minutes.

Had the Golden State Warriors not had such a crowded center rotation, Clifford likely would have seen some development time with the guys in Oakland. Ask any Santa Cruz fan about how Clifford has played this season: they’ll tell you that Clifford is one guy who seemingly improves every single game, which is certainly a promising factor when considering a possible NBA call-up.

Sioux Falls Skyforce guard Briante Weber — whom DubNation will recognize as Golden State’s latest 10-day contract player (and/or Anderson Varejao‘s replacement) — was also selected as a 2017 NBADL All-Star.

While he has yet to appear in a game for Golden State, Weber has appeared in 31 games with the Skyforce this season, averaging 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 3.3 steals in 36.8 minutes.

Weber was also recently named D-League Player of the Month for the 11 games played in January, over the course of which he averaged 21.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 3.6 steals on 53.7 percent shooting from the field, 51.0 percent shooting from behind the arc.

The 2017 D-League All-Star Game will air live on NBA TV on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 11:30 p.m. PST from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.