More on All-Star Selections
Nicolo Melli already had his flight booked to the Bahamas when he found out he needed to tweak those plans. As the Pelicans wrapped up their final shootaround before the All-Star break Thursday, executive vice president David Griffin informed the Italian forward he’d been chosen as an injury replacement in the Rising Stars Game. At first, Melli thought he was kidding. “I thought he was messing with me,” Melli said. “We always make fun of each other for different reasons. Everybody knew I was excited to go on vacation. I was waiting for this day. I thought he was joking.”
LeBron James: Welcome @Devin Booker!!! Well deserved G! #TeamLeBron👑
Duane Rankin: "I don't my hopes up. I'm going to go home with my family, sit down. Plans to take off tomorrow morning to my desination, my off-the-grid desination. So we'll see." Devin Booker on #NBAAllStar chances as Damian Lillard is out with injury (w/video) #Suns bit.ly/37nxkb5 pic.twitter.com/ZTCQXXiyS9
Duane Rankin: Quick takes from #Suns lockerroom. Monty Williams gave Damian Lillard mad props for saying Devin Booker should be considered to replace him as an all-star. Devin Booker said "we'll cross that bridge" several times when asked about if he gets the call to replace Lillard.
Jaren Jackson Jr: Ja gotta be all star😴
With LaVine declining to enter the slam-dunk contest, the Bulls’ only representation all weekend will be LaVine’s participation in the three-point contest Saturday. That’s it. Multiple sources have told the Sun-Times the Bulls are not thrilled with how this has played out, and LaVine hasn’t hidden his frustration, either. “Yeah, it’s upsetting, but you know . . . we see the way it’s got to be,” LaVine said. “We’ve got to be in the [playoff] hunt [to be considered for All-Star invitations]. We’re in the hunt a little bit, but we’re not solidified. We had some ups and downs, had some injuries. But like I told you guys in the beginning, [if] we win, we all succeed. So we’ll get there, I’ll get there, and I don’t have a doubt in my mind about that.”
Duane Rankin: "I'm not speaking on that situation anymore." #Suns star guard Devin Booker done talking about #NBAAllStar selection process.
Washington Wizards superstar wing Bradley Beal was considered by many to be the most notable omission from the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. Beal, 26, received All-Star honors the last couple of seasons and, after signing a massive contract extension October, is now scoring more than when he represented the Eastern Conference in 2019 (25.1 ppg) and 2018 (23.6 ppg) as well.
Considering that Beal is such a prolific scorer and the All-Star Game often rewards the players best at getting the ball in the bucket, it was a surprise to see that the former No. 3 overall pick was not included in the exhibition. But when putting his 2019-20 season in context, it raises even more eyebrows for the decision. Beal, averaging a career-best 28.8 points per game, is scoring more than any other All-Star snub in NBA history.
Only three other qualified players who have averaged at least 28.0 points per game (World B. Free, Tiny Archibald and Purvis Short) were not selected to the All-Star Game. Similarly, the last time a player averaged at least 27.0 points per game in a season and did not make the All-Star Game was in 1984-85.
When the NBA announced its All-Star starters and reserves over the last week, center Karl-Anthony Towns wasn’t on the list. Towns had earned that distinction twice over the last two seasons and broke down last season when he found out he had made the team. Towns spoke for the first time about not making the team after Saturday’s 118-106 loss to the Clippers.
“I’m worried about our team, about getting W's,” Towns said. “I’m desensitized to being disrespected in this league. I’ve been disrespected since I came in. It’s nothing new when I didn’t see my name up there. When you’re a person who’s been disrespected like me so much, it’s something you expect honestly. You’re kind of shocked when you do get it.”
When asked is he was going to use this as motivation, as a chip on his shoulder, Towns said he didn’t need it and got in a shot at this year’s game. “I’ve had a chip since I came in,” Towns said. “I’m on a journey that goes beyond All-Stars. I’m trying to be the best of the best. I have to go out there and continue to be better and continue to find ways to win for my team and try to build a legacy. “It’s unfortunate that this year’s All-Star Game won’t have the 24 best players in the NBA, but we got to go out there every night and just find ways to win, because it’s not about the All-Star game, it’s about being in the NBA finals, being in the playoffs, about winning games. That’s how you build a legacy. All-Star is cool and stuff for the fans, but I’m here for the people in this locker room.”
Tom Orsborn: DeMar said he's not "bitter" about the All-Star snub but added, "(there's) a lot of guys that sacrifice and do a lot for their team night in, night out and some may not be in the best position win-wise. But don't take away from their skill set and what they bring to the game."
Jeff McDonald: Pop admitted he was surprised DeMar DeRozan did not make the All-Star team in what Pop thinks might be his best season, but understood. "I think our record probably hurt him."
We found out 16 guys have ranked higher in the fan vote than in the players vote every year since 2017. Only two on the list have made the All-Star Game and they are both members of the world-beating Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson and Draymond Green
The largest disparity between player and fan vote happens with Jordan Clarkson, though, which was kind of unexpected.
Gina Mizell: More Williams: “It’s a shame. When you look at the system, the way these guys are picked, he’s probably a casualty of that. It’s pretty clear that the Western Conference coaches didn’t value what he brought to the table, and that’s disappointing.” #Suns
Fred Katz: Scott Brooks said today he thinks All-Star rosters should be made up of 13 guys from each conference instead of 12, since active NBA rosters now have 13 guys instead of 12.
Paul George: “Fact of the matter is I didn’t deserve to be an All-Star, I didn’t play enough games and I wasn’t out there enough. Honestly, it’s nice to have three extra days, I’ll take it with a smile on my face, root Kawhi on from wherever beach we decide to go.”
KC Johnson: Jim Boylen congratulates 7 EC reserves, calling them well deserving. Then said he’s disappointed Zach wasn’t selected. “We respect the process.”
David Hardisty: D'Antoni on Russell Westbrook making the All-Star team: "Really, really happy for him. I don't know how many games (it's been that he's played well)... 20, 25. He's played great. He deserves it. A lot of that is heart and desire and that's what he does."
Eric Koreen: Dwane Casey said he voted for Lowry as an All-Star reserve. Gasol and RHJ still out tonight
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.”
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
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.
