The door of opportunity has opened wide for Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who's been starting in place of an injured Kyrie Irving. In a relatively short period of time, Dinwiddie has shown that he might be worth an All-Star nod for this season.

Irving, who joined the Nets this offseason, has been sidelined for much of the 2018-19 campaign due to a right shoulder impingement. At first, the team thought the former Duke standout would only miss a few games. However, he's played in just 11 of Brooklyn's 26 games thus far. As a result, head coach Kenny Atkinson gave Dinwiddie more playing time, and he's answered the bell in a big way.

With no clear timetable for Irving's return established, The Spencer Dinwiddie Show will roll on. He's made 26 appearances this season (15 starts), racking up averages of 21.0 points on 43.0 percent shooting from the field (31.2 percent from beyond the arc), 6.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and just under one steal (0.9) in 30.0 minutes per contest. For the record: his points and minutes played marks are career-highs.

Interestingly, Dinwiddie has scored exactly 24 points in each of his last four outings with the Nets. In Sunday's 109-89 victory over the Sixers, the former second round pick racked up 24 points on 9-of-21 shooting (4-of-6 at the free-throw line), six assists and one steal in 30 minutes of action. He also had an impressive dunk on an inbound pass from Garrett Temple in the third quarter, which had the Brooklyn bench riled up in excitement:

“Right now, Spencer is our best player on the court,” Nets teammate Joe Harris recently said, via Rotoworld and Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “We live and die with him making plays down the stretch.”

Atkinson had high praise for Dinwiddie following Sunday night's win over Philly, claiming that he might be the best athlete on the team:

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Chris Paul in normal clothes on left. Mavericks' Luka Doncic shooting a basketball on right.

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Mavericks' Luka Doncic, Mavericks' Kyrie Irving both in front. Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, and Brian Windhorst in background with eyes popping out looking at Luka and Kyrie.

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Mavericks' Kyrie Irving, Mavericks' Jason Kidd both in front. Mavericks and Clippers logos in background.

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“I don't think people realize how good an athlete Spencer is,” Atkinson said, via ESPN. “You could argue our best athlete. He's fast. He's got an incredible vertical. He's unbelievable. It doesn't surprise me. I wish he'd do it more.”

As previously mentioned, it's not clear when Irving will be able to take the floor with his teammates again. He's still not taking contact, and he's already been ruled out for Tuesday night's matchup against the Pelicans and Thursday's game against the Spurs. He's progressing, but he still needs more time to recover. Until then, Dinwiddie will look to keep his momentum rolling.

Whether or not Dinwiddie will receive an All-Star nod remains to be seen, but he's certainly worth consideration.