The 2018 NBA All-Star Game reserves were announced Tuesday evening, which means a bunch of talented players who did not get voted in were mad on social media after the announcement.
Snubbed NBA players react on social media after all-star announcements
A few names were surprisingly left off the all-star reserves, and they were not happy about it.
Here are some of those players, in order of what they said:
Drummond is having one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 14 points, a league-best 15 rebounds, a career-high 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. He’s stuffed the stat sheet for the Pistons all season long, so he was rightfully upset when he wasn’t tabbed an all-star.
Here’s the thing: the Pistons started out the season red-hot, but have since cooled off. They’ve fallen out of the playoff picture at ninth in the East after running out to a 15-8 record. Coaches are responsible for voting in the reserves, and they weigh team record just as much as they do stats.
If the Pistons hadn’t slid to below .500, Drummond might very well be an all-star this year. Instead, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Kevin Love were named front court reserves in the East. It’s kind of tough to put Drummond ahead of any of those guys, despite the awesome season he’s having.
George didn’t say too, too much about being snubbed as an all-star out West, but Russell Westbrook absolutely lit into the voters (hi, coaches!) after the Thunder beat the Nets.
“Unbelievable. I think it’s just outrageous, in my opinion,” Westbrook said, according to ESPN’s Royce Young, reportedly closing his eyes and shaking his head. “I don’t know who else made the team but got four people from one team, you’ve got guys complaining about getting snubbed until they get in, you’ve got guys just talking about it all the time.
”But the guys that deserve it — should be in — are not. I just don’t understand. Doesn’t make any sense.”
Thunder head coach Billy Donovan was also disappointed that one of the league’s premier two-way players missed out on the all-star game.
“I’m really disappointed, and my comments aren’t to take away from any player, but to me he’s one of the best players in this league,” Donovan said. “He’s played as one of the best players in the league. He may be the best two-way player in the league. He’s even a better person and I know that has nothing to do with the all-star ballot, but I was just disappointed because if they’re picking the 12 elite players in the West, 12 elite in the East, he is without question one of the 12 elite players in the West.”
Carmelo Anthony was also denied an all-starnod, but he understood it was part of the sacrifice that came with heading to OKC.
As for George, he appeared a little disappointed, but was stood by one sentiment: it is what it is.
“It is what it is. I wasn’t an all-star, to whoever was the voters,” George said. “Whoever made the list or everybody that thought the same, I wasn’t an all-star apparently. Life goes on. I got a second half when I came here, I think Melo said the best, it’s something that us being in the East, it’s easier for us because we were holding our teams, pretty much putting the teams on our back night-in and night-out. But it is what it is. When I came here, there were bigger dreams and bigger goals. And what I have to look forward to is trying to win a championship.
“I got a longer break in-between the season now.”
George is an interesting case. He’s one of the league-leaders in hustle stats, including deflections and loose balls recovered, and he owns the second-most steals in the league behind Westbrook. Couple those defensive stats with 21 points on impressive three-point shooting percentages on a team that has surged to the fifth seed in the West, and you’d think you have an all-star on your hands.
But George missed out. Jimmy Butler was fully deserving of his all-star nomination leading the Timberwolves to the No. 3 seed after years of missing the playoffs. Westbrook himself took a slot as a reserve when he lost out as a starter to James Harden and Stephen Curry. Thompson, another two-way perimeter player, will almost always have a slot as a two-way wing as long as the Warriors continue their sheer dominance of the league. And Damian Lillard got the nod this season, and deservedly so, after years of getting overlooked.
Someone had to be on the outside looking-in. Unfortunately, this time that was George.
Paul didn’t speak for himself, but Harden, his teammate and all-star starter, went on Instagram after the reserves were announced, questioning how Paul could be snubbed when he’s having an amazing season for a Rockets team with the NBA’s second-best record.
All things come full circle, and Paul edged out Lillard as a reserve last season, even though Lillard was on a tear, averaging 27 points per game in Portland. Lillard, though, got the nod as a reserve this time, as did Klay Thompson, Butler, and Westbrook. The West is just a tough place to play for guards, and Paul will have to watch from the sidelines as a result.
No, the Clippers aren’t playoff bound this season, but Williams is the only reason the team is remotely competitive. Williams is averaging 23.5 points and five assists per game, shooting 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the line. He’s averaging 30 POINTS IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY, PEOPLE. THIRTY POINTS!
So rightfully, he’s got something to be mad about, too.
If there’s any exemption to the team record rule when voting for all-stars, it’d probably apply to Williams. He’s proven to be one of the most crafty perimeter scorers the league has, and without him, the Clippers would be in shambles. Instead, they’re surprisingly intact for a team that lost Paul last summer. But you can’t even think about giving Williams the nod when guys like Thompson, Butler, Westbrook, and Lillard are in the picture.
Booker is having another amazing season in Phoenix, averaging 25 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game. Those numbers, if they hold, would put him in a distinguished group of NBA legends — including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, and current players like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, and Anthony — to post that stat line within their first three seasons in the NBA.
But Booker’s Suns are hot trash among the bottom three teams in the Western Conference, and you can’t really weigh someone’s numbers appropriately when their team isn’t competing in truly meaningful games.
Booker will definitely be an all-star someday, and his time is in the near future. The Suns just aren’t good enough right now. That’s not an opinion. It’s a fact.
The Miami Heat have exceeded expectations yet again, and Dragic is at the center of their successful early season. But he was not named an all-star, and judging by his tweet, we know exactly where he’ll spend his break:
Players are going to get snubbed every year, because someone is going to think they are an all-star whether they get voted in or not. There are only 24 all-stars for 30 teams. Maybe the fix is to open up the pool, or make a mid-season all-star tournament.
Either way, guys are going to get mad every year. There’s nothing anyone can do about it, except watch them get mad and write about it. That seems to be a pretty fun way to handle things, right?
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