Snubbed guards in good company
Many deserving players for few All-Star spots
NBA All-Star Game snubs are inevitable. Deserving players get left off the roster, fans respond with anger, NBA pundits speculate and players say they plan to use the snub as “motivation.”
But this year — with the field of All-Star guards as deep as can be — the snubs came in bunches.
The guards who are on the rosters — Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Kemba Walker, Isaiah Thomas and DeMar DeRozan in the Eastern Conference; Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Klay Thompson out West — are all there for a reason.
But the guards who aren’t on the rosters — Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Mike Conley, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, to name a few — all make their own compelling case.
Paul, who suffered a hand injury a few days before the All-Star starters were announced, would not have been able to play in the game regardless. But he was more than deserving of a ceremonial spot, per se, with which Commissioner Adam Silver would have filled with the next best option. Instead, Paul’s streak of nine consecutive All-Star Games is over.
Beal, fully healthy and playing the best basketball of his life, has been an integral part of the Washington Wizards’ recent success. He is averaging a careerhigh 22.3 points per game on 47.2% shooting and has shown an on-court rapport with Wall.
Conley, perhaps the most talented player to never make an All-Star team, returned from a serious back injury in December after missing nine games (well before he was projected). He is averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game and has helped keep the Memphis Grizzlies in the heart of the Western Conference playoff picture.
Unlike the rest of this list, Lillard’s and McCollum’s success haven’t translated into the win column for the Portland Trail Blazers. Statistically? Both are in the midst of career years, averaging a combined 49.5 points per game (on 46.1% shooting), 9.4 assists, 8.6 rebounds and 5.1 threepointers (on 37.9% shooting).
“(The guard position is) as deep as it’s ever been,” seventime All- Star point-forward Grant Hill said in a recent phone interview with USA TODAY Sports. “We have some great guards in the league. But it is a guard-driven league. It’s a different league than it was, say in the ’90s. In order to win now, you have to have great point guard play. ...
“It’s definitely the era of the point guard, and you have more great point guards out there than maybe in years past.”
In a field led by Westbrook and Harden, who are putting together historic seasons, “great” is an understatement.
“It’s just fun to watch,” Hall of Fame shooting guard George Gervin told USA TODAY Sports. “I think once (Houston Rockets) coach (Mike D’Antoni) inserted James Harden into the backcourt at point guard, I mean, wow. It just accelerated his game.
“So now we’re seeing things that we didn’t ever see in him. That just goes to show you about positions. ...
“Same thing with Westbrook, now that Kevin (Durant) is gone. It’s Westbrook’s team, and Westbrook always seems to have something to prove every time he steps on the court, and he’s one of the best to do it.”