National Basketball Association

Biggest All-Star Starter Snubs

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:10 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Zack Geoghegan/FanSided via Hoops Habit

January 16, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during a stoppage in play against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The All-Star Starters have been revealed, who was left out?

The starting lineups for the 66th NBA All-Star game were announced on Thursday and everyone is upset.

The NBA implemented a new strategy for deciding who becomes an All-Star starter. Instead of the starters being voted in solely by the fans, the new system gives the fans half of the vote, while the media gets 25 percent and the players themselves get the remaining 25 percent.

The new system prevented players such as ZaZa Pachulia from getting the starting spot (which he would have if the vote was solely fan-centric), but resulted in players such as Raymond Felton and Quincy Pondexter receiving All-Star votes from their peers (no offense to those players, but in no way should they be getting votes over LeBron James or Kevin Durant).

The NBA should take a look at placing restrictions on who players/media members can vote for so the more-deserving guys can get in.

Zaza Pachulia still finished 12th in the Western Conference frontcourt player voting results, ahead of Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, and Blake Griffin.

It’s the first season trying the new system and I’m sure it’ll be tweaked in the future, but overall it’s a great new idea to include everyone in the voting process. The players and media are the ones closest to the NBA, so they should be allowed to vote.

That’s the end of my tiny rant, let’s take a look at who was voted to start in this year’s All-Star game.

Eastern Conference: DeMar DeRozan (TOR), Kyrie Irving (CLE), LeBron James (CLE), Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL), and Jimmy Butler (CHI).

For the most part, I think almost all of these players deserve to be named starters.

The obvious choices such as LeBron, KD, Harden, and Kawhi, I have no problem with.

Giannis, Butler, Steph, and Davis all have a strong case for being selected, but then I see Kyrie and DeRozan were named starters and I begin to wonder who they were picked over.

Obviously, Russell Westbrook has a case for replacing Steph and I personally have no clue how DeRozan got in over Isaiah Thomas or even his teammate, Kyle Lowry, but that’s how the new system worked out.

But who else should have been considered? Who are the biggest snubs for this year’s All-Star starters? Let’s take a look and start with Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jan 20, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) looks to pass as Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh (21) defends during the fourth quarter of the game at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers won the game 93-92. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Embiid

Only playing 25 MPG this season, Joel Embiid is still managing to average 19.8 PPG and 7.8 RPG along with 2.5 BPG while shooting 46 percent from the field and nearly 35 percent from 3, doing so on a Sixers team with one of the worst records in the NBA.

Even at 22 years old, Embiid may be the most popular player in the league right now, and it translated into him finishing third in the Eastern Conference frontcourt fan ballot with over 900,000 votes behind only Giannis (1.6 million votes) and LeBron (1.8 million votes, which led all ballots).

Only 8 players have made an All-Star game (starter or not) while averaging less than 25 MPG and that list includes Jordan, Yao Ming, Alonzo Mourning, Bobby Jones, Kareem, Bill Gabor, and Johnny Green. I’ve never even heard of two of those guys and three of them finished the season with less than 20 games played (meaning they got in solely because of their popularity and past success).

Joel deserved to get into the All-Star game, but not over Giannis and LeBron who are having incredible years, respectively.

There is a stronger case for Embiid over Butler but even Butler’s stats (25/7/5) are too good to leave out of the starting spot.

If the All-Star selections were to be made without the position restrictions, Embiid would have his best case against DeRozan and Kyrie. Embiid affects the game in his own right more than those two do because of his defense and his ability to shoot from behind the perimeter, something DeRozan isn’t capable of.

Embiid picked the perfect time to make his case for the staring spot though, as Philly is 8-2 in their last 10 games that featured a couple of game winners, a win over the Raptors, and the most fun I have seen the Sixers fans have in over a decade. Embiid averaged 22/9 during this promising stretch.

Dec 31, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) reacts to a call against the Memphis Grizzlies during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

DeMarcus Cousins

DeMarcus Cousins is averaging 28.1 points and 10.1 rebounds on 45.4 percent shooting for the Sacramento Kings this season, who have been in-and-out of the eighth seed ever since the season started.

Boogie is having an undoubtedly great year, and I personally picked him to make the starting lineup over fellow University of Kentucky alum Anthony Davis, but Davis’ numbers managed to be somehow slightly better than Boogie’s already impressive statline.

Cousins finished sixth in total fan votes with over 600,000 votes and fourth in player voting, however, he only received 11 votes from the media, 67 votes behind the next closest player, Anthony Davis.

It’s impossible to make an argument for Boogie over Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant because of how otherworldly those two have been and their play as potential MVP candidates is hard to downplay in favor of someone such as Boogie.

I still believe that Cousins’ ability to shoot from the 3-point line puts him ahead of Davis, but I have no vices against Davis being selected. It’s one of those instances where you can’t really go wrong.

Jan 10, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry (7) and point guard Cory Joseph (6) and guard DeMar DeRozan (10) during their game against the Boston Celtics at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Celtics 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Lowry

The odds were pretty good in favor of at least one Toronto Raptor being selected as a starter, but when it was revealed that DeMar DeRozan had been selected over Kyle Lowry, I started to scratch my head.

Don’t get me wrong, DeRozan is having a fantastic scoring year, averaging 28 PPG and doing so without shooting the 3 ball (or at least not shooting it efficiently as he’s at 26 percent on the season), but his backcourt teammate, Kyle Lowry, is the one more deserving.

Lowry has been the best point guard in the Eastern Conference since opening night, and it really hasn’t been close. Averaging 22.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 7.0 APG, Lowry has been the do it all man for the Raptors night in and night out. He controls the game more than Kyrie Irving or Kemba Walker does and he’s the only top five Eastern Conference point guard who can not only play defense, but play it at a high level.

Look, I’m a huge Kyrie fan (and apparently so is everyone else) but he just isn’t having the same statistical season as Kyle Lowry or even Isaiah Thomas. Popularity matters in things like this, and Lowry just wasn’t cool enough to make the cut.

Jan 10, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) celebrates after scoring a basket against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors won 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah Thomas

Isaiah Thomas may be the best story the NBA currently has right now (behind Embiid?). Drafted with the last pick in the 2011 NBA draft while only standing 5’9″ tall, IT has become one of the league’s best scorers this season. He is second in the league in scoring (29 PPG) and leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring (10.4 points per fourth quarter).

The most telling attribute about IT is how confident he is in his shot. He’ll step back and shoot over guys half a foot taller than him like its nothing or drive to the rim against a center and initiate the contact. He embraces the role as the underdog, and unleashes everything he has in the fourth quarter.

Offensively, IT has all the tangibles to take over games and become an elite scorer, but defensively, he may be the worst point guard the NBA has to offer, which may be the cause for his absence in the starting lineup.

His small stature is just too much to compensate for on the defensive end. He can’t stay in front of anyone he defends solely because he isn’t big enough to bump around with them.

On offense, he is the initiator of the contact and his small size only increases his chances of drawing a foul but on the other end, he gets bullied. He has a defensive rating of 114 this season and at 27 years old, there isn’t much hope of him being able to amend that.

IT finished second in Eastern Conference player voting for guards behind Kyrie and actually received the most votes by any EC guard when voted by the media. However, his fourth place finish in the fan voting (almost 1 million votes behind Kyrie) is what did him in. His peers know how good he is, the fans still need time to learn.

January 16, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during a stoppage in play against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Russell Westbrook

Time for the most obvious snub, Russell Westbrook.

The human triple-double was left out of the starting lineup in favor of James Harden (MVP candidate, totally understandable) and Steph Curry.

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Personally, I chose Curry over Westbrook to make the starting lineup because I knew that popularity came into place during competitions like this and Curry is far and above the more liked of the two. But that doesn’t mean Russ doesn’t deserve the spot.

Russ is averaging a triple-double for the first time since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 season, but couldn’t sway the majority vote that the fans had.

Russ finished first among Western Conference guards in both the media and player ballots, but his 1.5 million fan votes couldn’t topple Curry (1.8 million votes) or Harden (1.7 million votes).

If the voting system was positionless instead of having two guards and three forwards, Russ probably makes it in over Davis, but rules are rules, and the popular player won yet again.

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