No real snubs among starters for West, East
As much as I would like to get all fired up and scream about this player or that player not getting named an NBA All-Star starter, I just can’t.
I have no problem with the starters named, who were determined by fan, player and media votes.
In the East: Boston’s Kyrie Irving and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker are the two backcourt starters, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid are the frontcourt starters. That’s who I picked.
In the West: Houston’s James Harden and Golden State’s Steph Curry are in the backcourt, and Golden State’s Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s Paul George and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James make up the frontcourt.
At best, you can quibble over two selections: George vs. Anthony Davis in the West and Walker vs. either Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons or Washington’s Bradley Beal in the East. And it’s a minor quibble. Not even worth arguing, really.
On my ballot, I went with Harden, Curry, James and Durant, and I gave the nod to New Orleans’ Anthony Davis over George. But there’s nothing wrong with George starting. He’s had a fantastic season for a team that’s having a better season than Davis’ Pelicans.
Davis has an argument with his numbers: 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.7 steals per game at the time of the announcement. He was second in scoring, fourth in rebounding and second in blocks.
George was averaging 27.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, four assists and 2.3 steals, and as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, he anchored the third-best defense.
Either way is fine with me. It came down to a tiebreaker and fans break the tie. They had George fourth and Davis fifth. Both are equally deserving, and Davis will make the team when coaches vote for reserves.
The East starters were straightforward. If you really nitpicked, you could go with Simmons or Beal. But even the media went Irving-Walker in the backcourt, and fans went Irving-Dwyane Wade, who was sixth in voting among the media and the players.
I thought Wade might get more love from players since he is well-liked and it’s his final season. It would’ve been cool to see Wade play in one last AllStar Game. But you know what else is cool? Walker making his first All-Star start in his hometown arena on Feb. 17.
The fans, the players and the media got the starters right. Now, when coaches pick the reserves, that’s when we can argue
about who made the AllStar team. We will get a snub or two for sure.