All-Star shutout
3-point contest, Rising Stars Game still possible
Like last year, Heat won’t have a player at All-Star Game.
MIAMI — Unless one of their players is selected as an injury replacement, the Miami Heat will not have a representative at the NBA All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.
Before going without an All-Star last season, the Heat had a representative at the event every year since 2005. The last time the Heat went consecutive years without an All-Star was in 2003 and 2004, between the end of Alonzo Mourning’s initial Heat tenure and the start of Dwyane Wade’s Heat tenure.
No player on the current Heat roster has ever been named an All-Star.
Unless an injury allows Commissioner Adam Silver to select a Heat player as a replacement, the Heat’s best chance for an All-Star Weekend representative could by guard Wayne Ellington in the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday on Feb. 17. Various media reports already have confirmed the All-Star selections Kevin Love and Bradley Beal have accepted invitations to that event.
Heat rookie center Bam Adebayo could possibly earn an invitation to the Rising Stars Game on Feb. 16.
The All-Star Game is in Los Angeles at Staples Center on Feb. 18.
“I think if we started out the way we’re playing in the last six weeks, we probably would have been on more people’s radars,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in advance of Tuesday’s announcement of All-Star reserves. “Then again, you just never know. You have to win. You have to sustain it. You
have to play at a high level for a long period of time before people notice.”
NBA coaches voted for the seven reserves in each conference, who were announced Tuesday, required to select at least two guards and three front court players, as well as two players at any position.
Announced last week as Eastern Conference starters, in combined polling of fans, players and media, were LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan and Kyrie Irving.
Named as Eastern Conference reserves Tuesday were Love, Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Al Horford and Victor Oladipo.
Goran Dragic was considered the Heat’s leading candidate for an All-Star berth based on his overall body of work this season in pushing the Heat to the No. 4 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
Although he was disappointed in his snub last season, Heat center Hassan Whiteside has missed 18 games this season, minimizing his chances this season for a selection.
Whiteside was braced for the exclusions.
“They don’t say nothing about us,” Whiteside said of the electorate. “They always try to say we don’t have All-Stars. No, y’all just don’t vote them. We got All-Stars. A lot of them.”
No Eastern Conference team seeded No. 4 or higher at the time of AllStar Game had gone with out a selection since the 1993 New Jersey Nets. The last time a team seeded No. 4 or higher in either conference did not have an AllStar was the 2002-03 Portland Trail Blazers, with Rasheed Wallace, averaging 18.1 points at the time, bypassed in those selections.
Announced last week as West Conference starters were Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Named as Western Conference reserves Tuesday were Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
Among those left off the East roster, in addition to anyone from the Heat roster, were Andre Drummond and Kemba Walker, with Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Paul George among those who did not make it from the West.
The Heat were braced for Tuesday’s announcements.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ellington said. “I think we’re deserving, whether it’s Goran, whether it’s Hassan. One of those guys is deserving.”
Unlike Major League Baseball and the NHL, there are no requirements for every team to be represented on NBA All-Star teams.
The Heat’s most recent All-Star representative remains Wade in 2016. Chris Bosh also was selected to represent the Heat that season, but was sidelined by a recurrence of blood clots.
From 2011 to 2016 the Heat had at least two players selected to the All-Star Game.
The Heat’s only All-Star selections over the franchise’s 30 seasons remain Mourning (five selections with the Heat), Tim Hardaway (two), Anthony Mason (one), Shaquille O’Neal (three), James (four), Bosh (six) and Wade (12).