The NBA All Star Game rosters have officially been announced, so it is time for the annual round of shock and outrage. This time around, things were different, as NBA fans only got 50% of the vote, with players and media getting 25% of it each. The player and media votes served as a filter for the cult hero players with no merit behind their cases for an All Star appearance, like Zaza Pachulia, but in some cases, they made wrong decisions.
The upsets started when it was revealed that Steph Curry would start over Russell Westbrook for the West, and it continued when Joel Embiid got snubbed for the starting lineup in the East when he came in third in the fan vote. With so many players having All Star-caliber years this year, it was hard for the fans and media to select just 12 players for each conference.
Here are the men who deserved to make it into the 2017 NBA All Star Game.
Damian Lillard
Given the fact that the ex-Weber State player has been in small markets his whole career, Lillard’s game goes underappreciated all too often. He averages 26.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game. Although his assist numbers could and should be higher as he is a point guard, he has one teammate who can score reliably in CJ McCollum, so Lillard tends to be the one who carries the team in that column.
With their limited talent, Lillard has led the Portland Trail Blazers to the ninth seed in the West, which is impressive for a team that has Mason Plumlee, Noah Vonleh, and Evan Turner in its starting lineup on a nightly basis. Clearly, Lillard has been overlooked this season, but if he can lead his team to the playoffs and make noise there, it is likely that he will get Portland and himself back on the map for next season.
Karl-Anthony Towns
Expectations were high for KAT after such a great rookie season, and he has managed to exceed them. He has brought his averages up in every category except for blocks, and he has bumped his scoring average up by just over four points, averaging 22.7 per night this season. As a center, he averages an impressive 3 assists per game and 11.9 rebounds, which would be considered All Star-quality numbers in most people’s eyes.
Fans and Media have given the impression that team success is more important than personal success when selecting the All Star teams, and that trend applies to Towns. His team sit in 12th place in the West currently, which likely diluted his personal numbers when being evaluated in the voting process.
Mike Conley
After signing that massive contract extension that made most fans reflect on the importance of sports in American society, Conley has done well to justify it. He averages career highs in points, rebounds, free-throw percentage, and three-point percentage while helping his team to the 7th seed in a tough Western Conference. Still without a career All Star Game appearance, Conley remains one of the least-recognized stars in the league.
With the NBA loaded with skilled point guards, it is hard to fit them all onto a 12-man All Star team, but with Conley improving noticeably from last season to this one, 2017 should have been the year that Conley got his skills appreciated around the league.
Joel Embiid
No rookie since Wilt Chamberlain has put up the numbers that The Process has thus far. Take a minute to let that sink in. The Cameroonian center has only been playing basketball for about six years, and he is drawing comparisons to Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon, among others. 7’2″ centers are not supposed to be able to hit threes, or drive to the hoop with ease, or go from chasing down an MVP candidate and blocking his shot to catching a lob on the offensive end.
Additionally, Embiid would make the All-Star Game fun, at least more fun than Paul Millsap will make it. Once again, the popular vote has failed America, as Embiid would be a starter in New Orleans if it was just as a result of the fan vote as it has been for years, but apparently the players and media do not want the most fun weekend in the NBA season to be fun, which shows that the NBA has failed to give the fans what they want, even though the All-Star Game is for the fans’ entertainment primarily.