The NBA announced the All-Star starters for the Eastern and Western Conferences this past week after returning to their traditional format of players representing their own conferences. The Eastern Conference starters include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard while the Western Conference starters include LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Outside of Lillard there is not much debate as to whether or not any of these players deserved to start for their conference in the All-Star game. What remains is to look at the remaining pool of talent available to be included in the reserves and determine which players should be locks to be included off the bench.
Starting off with the two backcourt positions, the most deserving players from either conference are Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson. Starting with Booker, he has averaged 28.2 points and 7.5 assists enroute to the current sixth seed alongside Kevin Durant who starts in for the Western Conference. Likewise, De’Aaron Fox has also been explosive throughout this season posting his best ever numbers while leading a young and fun Kings team to the fifth seed.
Moving to the east, Donovan Mitchell is almost a clone of Fox in terms of numbers and impact with the Cavs being the fifth seed on the other side of the United States. Jalen Brunson while putting up the least points of the four guards as well as being doubted for his leadership due to his height has the New York Knicks in the fourth seed in the East and will no doubt make his first All-Star Game this Season.
Next, the three most deserving backcourt players in each conference are Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Anthony Davis for the Western Conference and Paolo Banchero, Jaylen Brown and Julius Randle for the Eastern Conference. Leonard and George are putting near identical numbers, 23.5 points along with around 4 assists and 6 rebounds, as the leading duo for a three seeded Clippers team while Anthony Davis has been quietly impressive by staying healthy for the duration of this season.
In the east, Banchero has been putting up baby Lebron numbers averaging 22.6 points, 4.9 assists and 7.0 rebounds leading one of the youngest teams in the league, the Orlando Magic, to a play-in spot. Jaylen Brown is a rather boring selection having had his role kept the same for several seasons now. But the man who can’t drive left has been quietly efficient once again playing number two to starter Jayson Tatum on the Celtics. In a similar manner as his teammate Jalen Brunson who was mentioned earlier, Randle has been underestimated and credited because of his reputation as someone who struggles in the postseason. However, he has had a great season alongside Brunson dragging the Knicks to the fourth seed.
There are more than five slots on the bench for each team and some wildcards could be able to sneak their way into an All-Star appearance. This by no way implies that any of the players mentioned are not deserving, just that popularity and favoritism plays a great role in selecting the All-Stars. The potential wildcard players include Stephen Curry, Alperen Şengün, Kyrie Irving, Victor Wembanyama, Jamal Murray, Rudy Gobert, Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes. Regardless of who is selected, it’s nice to see the NBA moving back to its original format of Eastern vs. Western Conferences after spending many years testing gimmicky formats which were not good additions to the weekend.
