Gina Mizell: Monty Williams on Devin Booker being left off All-Star reserves: “A lot of really good players didn’t make the All-Star team until later on in their career, and they ended up being Hall of Fame-type players. And Devin Booker is certainly going to be a Hall of Fame player.” #Suns
More on All-Star Selections
Eric Woodyard: Giannis says he’s disappointed that more Bucks didn’t make the All-Star team. “I want to be honest,” he said. “I feel like at times that we don’t get as much respect and it’s OK, we haven’t earned anything, at the end of the day, I think (Eric Bledsoe) should’ve made the team.”
Jim Eichenhofer: Brandon Ingram on the meaning of his first All-Star selection and his future: "It’s very significant. Of course with the standards of mine and the people around me, there are bigger and bigger things than this, but I’m enjoying this moment right now and very thankful for this.”
Jim Eichenhofer: Jrue Holiday, after being asked about #Pelicans team role in helping Brandon Ingram become All-Star for first time: "He did that. He carried the team and put us on his back, made big shots, big plays, game-winners. As much credit as we’d like to take, he’s a really good player."
Sarah K. Spencer: Trae Young on how he can handle all his All-Star weekend activities on top of his already-heavy workload: “I’m 21... I think that’s why I’m able to play so many minutes, I’m able to enjoy everything I have going on, because I’m still young. This is still pretty new to me.”
Scott Kushner: Brandon Ingram said it is “very significant” for him to be named an All Star and recognizes its meaning. He credited his teammates several times and pointed out Jrue Holiday’s unselfishness and Lonzo Ball’s friendship in particular.
Kevin Chouinard: Rising Stars Teams announced: pic.twitter.com/shFaeTGG3x
Tim Reynolds: Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn picked for Rising Stars.
Chris Haynes: Zion Williamson has been voted in the Rising Stars Game.
Ian Begley: RJ Barrett named to Rising Stars Game, NBA says.
Chris Fedor: #Cavs Collin Sexton was not selected to participate in Rising Stars Challenge
Chris Haynes: Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle was not voted in by assistant coaches to be a participant in the Rising Stars Game, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal is clearly miffed by coming up short of an All-Star selection, clearly voicing that anger after the game. He was joined by his fiancée, who complained during the postgame show after the Wizards beat the Charlotte Hornets 121-107, and so did his agent, who was as outraged as Beal. “Inside the NBA” analyst Charles Barkley shot the latter down, saying his agent has no ground to complain or feel upset: “You mean the agent who let hit him take the most money so he can get the biggest cut? He’s not in a position to complain,” said Barkley. “The Wizards are 16-31. Bradley Beal is a good player, but they basically have the same record as the Knicks and the Cavs.” “His agent is in no position to complain. He took the maximum extension, he knew they were gonna stink, so [the agent] took the most money he could get also.”
One more gem from Jokic. He said what he liked most about All-Star weekend was getting to know the other stars personally, including Russell Westbrook. “Like, me and Russ, we were always on the court like a little bit chippy, whatever,” Jokic said. “And All-Star, we were talking like, he was good to me. He was not bad to me.”
SportsCenter: "A little pissed off about it ... It's disrespectful. ... I'm gonna try and get my team in the playoffs for sure." Strong words from Bradley Beal postgame when he was asked about missing the All-Star game.
Fred Katz: Isaiah Thomas on Bradley Beal not making All-Star: "It’s so political. NBA picks who they want, and that’s just how it’s always gonna be…They always talk about on winning teams, but then you pick and choose who you want on a losing team. It’s like, pick a side."
Candace Buckner: Bradley Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein rips Eastern Conference coaches for the all-star snub. Bartelstein: “I think they’ve sent a horrible message.” Mark Bartelstein, Bradley Beal's agent, on Beal being left off the all-star team: "It's unprecedented for a player to have the type of season that Brad is having to not be in the all-star game. And I think the Eastern Conference coaches, I think they've sent a horrible message. I think the Eastern Conference coaches have become robotic in thinking they just have to reward players that are on the winningest teams. The idea of the all-star game is to reward the very best players and Brad made a decision this summer to be loyal to a franchise, to be patient with a franchise and to go through the rebuilding. He could've made the choice to be a bandwagon jumper and just go on and join a higher-level team and he would've been guaranteed in the all-star game. But he didn't want to do that. He wanted to be loyal to his organization and the coaches in the NBA are holding it against Brad that he was loyal to his organization.
Mark Bartelstein: "There's a reason why the players voted him No. 2. The players know and these coaches — if they're being honest, there's nobody in the Eastern Conference, other than Giannis, that they game plan for harder than they game plan for Brad. That's the reality of it. They game plan so hard to try to take him away. The Wizards are in a rebuilding situation and this wasn't going to be a year where they were going to be a playoff team, and everyone knew it. Yet, he has gone and played his heart out every single night to try to make them as competitive as they can be and coaches have held it against him that he decided to stay the course with the team instead of jumping ship and joining someone's bandwagon and I think that's a terrible message."
Fred Katz: Kamiah Adams, Bradley Beal’s finacee, went on the Wizards postgame show with Glenn Consor to talk Beal not making All-Star. "It’s politics and it’s a joke,” she said. "The NBA is becoming laughable in my honest opinion."
Royce Young: With Chris Paul being named a reserve, the Thunder have had an All-Star 11 straight seasons, longest active streak in the league. They’ve had 18 All-Star appearances since 2010, second most behind only the Heat (19) in that span.
Alex Kennedy: A record eight international players have been selected to the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. Also, this marks the first time in 10 years that at least nine players are first-time All-Star selections in the same season.
Bobby Marks: Rudy Gobert has earned a $1M bonus for being selected as a Western Conference reserve. The bonus is now deemed likely and the Utah center will see his 2020/21 cap hit increase to $27.5M (pending other bonuses).
Despite being named an Eastern Conference reserve, Toronto guard Kyle Lowry will need to play in 29 out of the remaining 35 games to earn a $200K bonus. There is also a $500K bonus as part of the extension signed in October but that incentive only impacts his cap hit in 2020/21.
Marc J. Spears: Captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will draft the #NBA All-Star Game rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference. They will draft without regard for a player’s conference or position. TNT reveals the team rosters on Feb. 6.
John Karalis: Tatum on making the All-Star team: “Definitely it is an honor. I am extremely blessed and grateful. Third year to make the All-Star team it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.”
Jonathan Feigen: Russell Westbrook, twice an All-Star MVP, earned 9th All-Star selection. First Harden teammate in game since Dwight Howard in 2014. In past 20 games, Westbrook averaged 30.8 ppg, 6.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists. Overall this season, averaged 26.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists.
Candace Buckner: Scott Brooks before the game on Bradley Beal: "I don’t think I have to defend that he’s an all-star. I think I know and I think the coaches know and I know the players definitely know, being voted as second.”
Evan Fournier: If you look at the East its fair. All these guys are playing really good and are on WINNING teams and thats what being an All Star should be all about. I don’t think you should be an All Star with negative record, doesn’t matter how good you are even if it isn’t fair for some guys
Donatas Urbonas: Domantas Sabonis made it to the NBA All-Star game! Only the 2nd Lithuanian player in NBA history after Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Well deserved!
Tom Orsborn: Nothing official from the NBA yet, but @Shams Charania's report means that for only the third time in the 43 All-Star Games that have been played since the ABA/NBA merger in 1976 – and for the first time since 1997 – the elite contest will not include a player from the Spurs.
Connor Letourneau: It’s official: The Warriors have no All-Stars for the first time since 2013.
Shams Charania: Sources: 2020 NBA All-Star reserves: East: Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Domas Sabonis West: Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Brandon Ingram, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul
Jeff Siegel: Sabonis has a $1.3 million bonus in his rookie scale extension for making the All-Star Team. Unfortunately, that bonus doesn't count for this year, so he won't get paid out on that, but it will count as likely for next year.
Fred Katz: Scott Brooks on how much time he takes working on his all-star ballot: “Enough time. I look into it. I talk to my assistants. … Winning does (matter), but it’s not the only thing."
Tom Westerholm: Jayson Tatum was asked if it would be a rush to make the All-Star game. “Yeah. (It would) feel good to hear some good news."
Scott Agness: Bulls coach Jim Boylen on Domantas Sabonis: “I think he is an All-Star. His play has been terrific.” All-Star reserves, voted on by the conference coaches, will be announced Thursday evening.
Eric Walden: Donovan Mitchell, on the possibility of being named an All-Star: “It’d be an incredible honor, for sure. ... Hopefully I’ll get the call. ... I would love to make it. If I don’t, we have bigger things to focus on. Even if I do make it, we still have bigger things to focus on. pic.twitter.com/wsHKU3eHld
Candace Buckner: Scott Brooks on #Bucks forward Khris Middleton: “Make sure you tell him I voted for him. So he doesn’t take anything out on me, or the (#Wizards).”
Peter Edmiston: Nuggets coach Mike Malone on Ja Morant: "I think he's a hell of a player but he's not an All-Star yet, in my opinion. He's got to go through his growing pains. He's Rookie of the Year, though."
Josh Lewenberg: Nurse on Lowry-"If that guy isn't on an all-star ballot considering the last 18 months & where our team is, that's unfathomable to me. If anybody that has a decent knowledge of the game would keep him off then, well, it doesn't make sense to me. It wouldn't make any sense at all"
Bam Adebayo has to wait until Thursday to find out if he will be named to his first All-Star Game. Jimmy Butler, however, doesn't need to. "He will be," Butler said Monday after the Miami Heat's 113-92 win over the Orlando Magic at AmericanAirlines Arena when asked if his teammate will be an All-Star this season. "No doubt."
On Thursday, Zach LaVine will find out whether he makes his first All-Star game as a coaches’ reserve selection. “Zach deserves to be an All-Star,” executive vice president John Paxson said. “I know we don’t have as many wins as we all would like. But nobody can ignore what he has done and it would be (an oversight) if he doesn’t get recognized.”
If he doesn’t, LaVine, and the Bulls, will be disappointed. But missing out shouldn’t obscure what is becoming a special season for LaVine. Saturday’s masterpiece of 44 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in a road victory over the Cavaliers is just the latest example. With averages of 30 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists in January, he’ll also draw strong consideration for Eastern Conference player of the month.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra responded swiftly to swingman Jimmy Butler not being selected as a starter for next month's NBA All-Star Game in Chicago, calling his omission "a joke" and adding that he's hopeful it will help change the voting process. "I just think it's ridiculous that we're still in these antiquated positions," Spoelstra said before Friday night's 122-117 loss to the LA Clippers. "So who's to say what position Jimmy is? Does it matter? I put him No. 2 on my [lineup] card. So I go Kendrick Nunn, Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, I go Bam [Adebayo] and then Meyers [Leonard]. But you could flip any one of those guys around. And in many ways he's our point guard. So should he be in the All-Star Game as a point guard? I don't know.
Andrew Greif: Paul George has played 26 games. Does Doc Rivers think he has a case to be an All-Star? "There’s the case by his numbers but it depends on what they’re going to go by. I typically go by record a lot, so that gives him a boost. Then games played, that probably will hurt him."
Sarah K. Spencer: John Collins on Trae Young being named an All-Star starter: "It's the star power. It just speaks for itself. His ability to be on the team that he's on, play the way he plays and attract the attention he's garnering, it's pretty impressive."
Ira Winderman: Spoelstra, on Adebayo's All-Star chances, "He better be in, by the coaches, with the year that he's having. . . That's an All-Star year by any measure."
Tim Reynolds: Spo thinks All-Star starters should be positionless. He’s right. “These are such antiquated labels,” Spo said. He adds that Butler should be a starter. “It’s a joke that he’s not,” Spo adds.
Michael Singer: Malone on All-Star vote: “If (Nikola) wasn’t, this would be the biggest conspiracy since JFK. I’d have to find the Zapruder film.” Also added, with a bit of Cajun spice: “There’s not many Nikola Jokic’s waking around in the NBA in my very humble, uninformed, ignorant opinion.”
Josh Lewenberg: Pascal Siakam is the first 27th-overall pick in NBA history to be voted in as an All-Star starter. He's the third 27th-overall pick to ever be an All-Star and the first since Dennis Rodman in 1992.
Mario Hezonja: DAMIAN. LILLARD. IS. AN. NBA. ALL. STAR. STARTER! PERIOD.
This moment will last FOREVER! Ice Trae is a starter in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game! (via @nba) - - - - - #TrueToAtlanta 12h
Erik Garcia Gundersen: Rick Carlisle on Dame tonight: "Before the game I tried to pass a note down to their locker room to tell Lillard that he had my all star vote. Obviously he didn't get the note but he had my vote before he went for 47 against us."
No surprise, Beal was not named one of the two starting Eastern Conference guards when the NBA announced the duo Thursday for its upcoming All-Star Game. The league had spent the previous few weeks releasing progressive fan voting. Beal was consistently ninth on the list. But player and media votes were due Jan. 20, and little did the world know there was a little jolt once the final results glided onto the internet: He finished second in the player vote. “That’s cool. It’s definitely respect, for sure,” Beal said Thursday after scoring 36 points during a 124-112 win in Cleveland. “And that’s why I always feel like the players and coaches should have a higher, more stronger percentage of the votes than the fans. But to each his own.”
Kerry Eggers: Terry Stotts on Mavs’ All-Star Luka Doncic: "He’s in the MVP discussion. What he’s doing is remarkable for a 20-year-old 2nd-year player. He does everything for them. They have the No. 1 offense in the league & that’s mainly because of what he does. He makes his teammates better"
Brad Townsend: Doncic was scheduled to speak, but since bus arrived late he was anxious to get on the court and warm up. “I’m really excited, guys, thank you,” he said over his shoulder on way out of locker room.
Micah Adams: Most years as leading All-Star vote-getter Michael Jordan - 9 LeBron James- 7 Vince Carter - 4 Kobe Bryant - 4 Julius Erving - 4 Dwight Howard - 2 Yao Ming - 2 Grant Hill - 2 Magic Johnson - 2 George Gervin - 2
Mark Followill: It's official. Luka is an All-Star game starter. The only other Mavs player picked as a starter through the fan voting process is Jason Kidd in 1996. Dirk was a starter as a replacement for injured starters in 2007 and 2010
Gerald Bourguet: Per NBA PR, Luka Doncic and Trae Young are just the second pair of 21-and-under starters in the All-Star Game (Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett in 1998). Also the first time with multiple-second-year players since Grant Hill and Jason Kidd in 1996.
Jonathan Feigen: James Harden selected as an All-Star for eighth time, second in franchise history to Haleem Olajuwon's 12. Other starters from West: LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic.
Alex Kennedy: NBA players typically pick their friends/teammates rather than take the All-Star starter vote seriously. The following players received MULTIPLE player votes: Jordan Bone, Miye Oni, Ryan Broekhoff, Chimezie Metu, Jarrell Brantley, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Chris Boucher.
Tim Reynolds: Rematch! LeBron James is the captain from the West. Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis again at the All-Star Game. James, as the leading votegetter, will pick first among starters. Antetokounmpo will have the first pick for the reserves.
Shams Charania: 2020 West All-Star starters: Dallas’ Luka Doncic Houston’s James Harden Lakers’ LeBron James (captain) Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard Lakers’ Anthony Davis
Sarah K. Spencer: The Hawks fly to OKC this afternoon — that means Trae Young gets to watch from home with family as All-Star starters are announced. "Hopefully some good news comes out of it... For me being able to watch it and tune in, being in Oklahoma, and playing in OKC, that's a dream."
Anthony Chiang: NBA All-Star starters will be announced today at 7 p.m. Bam Adebayo is not expected to make it in as a starter, but it's expected to be a close call for Jimmy Butler.
For his part, Towns said he’s not thinking about the All-Star game too much, even after he was emotional last season after being selected. “It would be an honor. But, for me, I'm not even worried about that to tell you honestly,” Towns said. “I just worry about winning. That's the only thing. I don't wake and say, 'I need to get these amount of points and these rebounds and these statistics for an All-Star bid.' The last thing I'm thinking about is the All-Star bid. I'm trying to figure out ways to get wins for my team, my organization, and to find better ways to lead.”
Connor Letourneau: Steve Kerr on Ja Morant's All-Star candidacy: "I think he'll get real consideration. He's a great player."
Gerald Bourguet: Monty Williams says he’s done all he can do to make it known around the league how deserving Devin Booker is of an All-Star selection this year. “You’d be hard-pressed to name another guard who’s *that* much better than Devin.”
Playing in the Rising Stars Challenge certainly isn’t a make-or-break deal or even an accurate reflection of a player’s rookie year. But it is an opportunity for Culver to be around the best players in the league that should only help his confidence. “I think that he’s very deserving of that,” Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said Tuesday. “You look around the league and Jarrett, the way he’s come on and the way he’s progressed, his improvement and development is a great story over this last month here. . . Being around other players like that, being around other All-Stars . . . that will really help Jarrett.”
Monday was the final day of fan All-Star voting. For Alex Caruso, it was greeted with an exhale. The 25-year-old guard has enjoyed riding the wave of a surge of fan voting, clocking in a No. 4 among Western Conference guards last Thursday ahead of such esteemed players as Russell Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker. But fun is fun. Even Caruso isn’t stumping for himself at this point.
But owing to his status as a social media cult hero for the league’s most popular franchise, he’s gotten a boost among fan voting. And, yes, he gets a kick out of it. “Obviously I enjoy it. I love fans, and the fact that I have fans is an amazing thing in general,” he said. “But yeah, kind of ready for it to move along, give the guys who deserve it their attention and getting back to regular games.”
The run was fun, Caruso said. But he’s ready for it to be over. “There are people who are very deserving who have had great years,” he said. “Fans do what fans do. Especially in the era of social media that we live in, once something catches fire, it just spreads. Like I said, I appreciate all the love. But the guys who deserve it, deserve it.”
The most likely candidate to continue the Spurs’ streak is DeMar DeRozan, who has scored 21 or more points in the last 12 games in a row and 30 or better in three of the last four outings. During that 12-game span, the four-time All-Star is averaging 27.3 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 65.1 percent from the field. “The fan vote is kind of a popularity contest, but obviously DeMar should be in it with what he’s been doing, especially this last month or so,” Spurs guard Derrick White said after shootaround in preparation for Friday’s game with Atlanta.
“Look at DeMar this past month or so, he’s been doing really great things, and L.A. as well,” Spurs guard Lonnie Walker said. “But you know what? We are not here to worry about All-Star Games. We are here to try to make it to the playoffs and have a great run.”
