WESTBROOK SNUBBED AS ALL-STAR STARTER
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook will not be a starter in the NBA All-Star Game, and Oklahoman staff writer Brett Dawson recaps the Thunder’s loss on Wednesday night at Golden State.
Two of his former Thunder teammates will start for the Western Conference at next month’s NBA All-Star Game.
Russell Westbrook might run with Kevin Durant and James Harden again, but he won’t join them for the jump ball.
Despite a record-setting season in Oklahoma City, Westbrook wasn’t among the players named Thursday as All-Star starters.
The Thunder point guard led Western Conference guards in votes by players and media — whose votes factor into All-Star starters for the first time — but finished third in fan voting, which carries the most weight.
Fan balloting accounts for 50 percent of the AllStar starter vote, and though Westbrook, the Rockets’ Harden and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry all had a weighted score of 2.0 based on all three voting categories, fan votes break the tie. Curry and Harden finished first and second among Western Conference guards in fan voting.
Durant, who left the Thunder for Golden State in the offseason, led the Western Conference frontcourt in votes by fans, media and players. He’ll start in the AllStar frontcourt alongside the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard and the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis.
The Warriors’ Zaza Pachulia — who committed a hard foul on Westbrook in the Thunder’s Wednesday night loss at Golden State — was the second-leading votegetter among Western Conference frontcourt players in fan voting. He ranked 10th among media and 12th among players, keeping him out of the starting five.
For the Eastern Conference, guards Kyrie Irving of the Cavaliers and DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors will start with a frontcourt of Cleveland’s LeBron James, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler.
Westbrook is averaging 30.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists this season, looking to become the first NBA player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double.
He’ll no doubt be selected to be as an AllStar reserve.
The backups will be announced next Thursday on TNT.
Westbrook’s absence from the starting lineup will remove some of the intrigue from what nonetheless promises still to be a fascinating AllStar Weekend in New Orleans.
Westbrook and Durant’s relationship has soured since Durant left for the Warriors in free agency. Asked after Wednesday’s game — the second meeting this season between the two — whether they’re on speaking terms, Westbrook replied simply, “Nah.”
They’ll face off again before the Feb. 19 AllStar Game. The Warriors visit Oklahoma City on Jan. 11, Durant’s first game back at Chesapeake Energy Arena since playing eight seasons there for the Thunder.
It could be a chilly All-Star locker room. It might be on Harden to play peacemaker.
Both Westbrook and Durant remain on good terms with Harden, who played his first three seasons with the duo in OKC before the Thunder traded him to the Rockets.
Westbrook has said Harden remains a close friend, and he admitted this week that he’s kept up with Harden’s huge season — 28.8 points, 11.6 assists, 8.3 rebounds per game — mostly through the word-of-mouth about it.
Durant, who’s averaging 26.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Warriors, and he keeps tabs on what he called the “ridiculous” numbers his former teammates are posting.
“It’s easy to say we were supposed to be together for the rest of our careers, but it didn’t play out like that,” Durant told the Bay Area News Group this week, as he prepared for games against Westbrook and Harden.
“I think all three of us will have memorable careers. And it’ll be a journey we’ll always remember, something that’s different and unique, playing with two different guys who are doing incredible things in the league right now. But when you look back, think about the fun times instead of what could’ve been.”