The 2013-2014 NBA All-Star game certainly did its best in honoring the snub-laden nature of this annual exhibition showcase.
Coaches selected the reserve players from their respective conferences on Thursday. Each of the 10 starters qualified last week via fan voting.
Outside of an injured Kobe Bryant, both starting squads left little room for dissention. The later 14 additions, however, relegated the intelligent masses to a collection of befuddled head-scratchers.
Incomprehensible, preposterous and straight-up laughable are some of the apt descriptors following this utterly dubious voting process.
We understand that coaches focus nearly all available time and energy toward their own teams. Even their wives, children and families fall by the wayside more often than not.
But Joe Johnson? Really?
Johnson’s multiple game-winners notwithstanding, how 15.6 points per game and a middling 14.9 player efficiency rating is among the Association’s elite is beyond us.
Here now are the six biggest snubs in this year’s All-Star game.
6. Al Jefferson, Center, Charlotte Bobcats
The East’s roster is loaded with defensive big-men; it desperately needs scoring from the five spot.
Charlotte’s Al Jefferson would have fit the bill.
Jefferson leads the Bobcats with 19.9 PPG on 48.9 percent shooting. That former mark ranks second among NBA centers.
He dominates the low post and inside the paint with his 6’10’’, 265-pound frame. He consistently registers a multitude of put-backs per game, while adding 10.7 rebounds (sixth-most at his position).
Furthermore, Jefferson is the most reliable all-everything presence for a mediocre 21-28 Bobcats team. He stands alone with 3.8 win shares and a 22.0 PER, ranking 14th in the league in that latter category.
The block-happy Roy Hibbert and assist and rebound-minded Joakim Noah are fully deserving of their all-star selections. But Chris Bosh, despite his newfound three-point shot, should not have made it over Jefferson.
This isn’t an overly egregious omission, but one worthy of a top-six snub hierarchy.
5. DeMarcus Cousins, Center, Sacramento Kings
Welcome to the classic case of a great player getting shafted for playing on a bad team.
(And for certain non-basketball-related reasons to be discussed later.)
DeMarcus Cousins has operated as a statistically dominant center. He leads all positional fellows with 22.6 PPG and 1.8 SPG, while ranking fourth with 11.6 RPG and 3.0 APG.
He is also fifth in the NBA with 28 double-doubles, despite missing six games.
Unfortunately, the last-place Sacramento Kings are 15-32. Not even Cousins sixth-best 26.6 PER and gaudy overall numbers have saved them from occupying the cellar in the Western Conference.
Or landed Cousins in his rightful place in the 2013-14 All-Star game.
As will be seen later in this list, coaches clearly hold Cousins’ once volatile and immature disposition against him. His being left off this roster speaks to the voters’ lack of respect for his recent personality overhaul.
Dwight Howard serving in Cousins’ stead at least helps preserve what little credibility remains in this voting process.
4. Lance Stephenson, Shooting Guard, Indiana Pacers
It’s one thing if biased scoring totals or fan ballots put a player over the top.
It’s another thing entirely when coaches—and not uninformed fans—misguidedly vote in undeserving players.
Lance Stephenson averages a fantastic all-around 14.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 5.4 APG, 49.9 FG percentage and 34.4 percent from three-point range. He has also contributed 5.3 wins for Indiana while operating as the team’s do-it-all backcourt leader.
Stephenson ranks top-two in all the above categories (minus 3P percentage) among his teammates on the East-leading 36-10 Pacers. He sits unrivaled at his position with 14 double-doubles and is unmatched with four triple-doubles in the entire NBA.
Yet Joe Johnson earns a spot on the All-Star team.
Aside from a mere 1.4 advantage in PPG and 38.9 to 34.4 nod in three-point accuracy, Stephenson owns Johnson in every conceivable metric. The latter is thoroughly inconsistent and doesn’t play a lick of defense. Stephenson, meanwhile, does everything well—game in and game out.
This totally makes sense.
At any rate, the deservedly “mad” Stephenson will find his vengeance in due time.
The Pacers are all but guaranteed a spot in the Eastern Conference finals, while Johnson’s supposedly contending Brooklyn Nets will more than likely be watching from their couches.
Delayed retribution? Why not.
3. Goran Dragic, Guard, Phoenix Suns
Make your acquaintance with the best backcourt player you’ve never heard of.
Goran Dragic sits atop the Phoenix Suns scoring and distribution leader board with 19.9 PPG and 6.1 APG. He ranks No. 2 with 1.3 SPG and a 50.0 FG percentage, while shooting a top-three worthy 39.0 percent from distance.
Give him a top-12-rated 6.1 win shares and a 13th-best 22.0 PER among all members of the Association to boot.
Dragic is officially listed as a shooting guard but has run point for the majority of the season. That has been especially true ever since Eric Bledsoe (knee surgery) went down during the Suns final game of the 2013 calendar year.
In 16 January contests, Dragic compiled his greatest statistical totals yet. He averaged 22.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 6.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 52.2 FG percentage and 46.0 percent from three-point range.
His production and leadership kept Phoenix in the playoff hunt. It went 9-7 last month and now boasts a 29-18 record, good for sixth in the West.
Tony Parker, who ostensibly made the roster in place of Dragic, has posted respectable—but not all-star-quality—numbers for the San Antonio Spurs.
It is true that Parker has scored with superior accuracy this year (50.9 FG percentage, 43.5 3P rate). That said, he has not been as efficient (20.1 PER) or valuable (4.4 WS) as Dragic has been to his team.
Ultimately, this latest snub is more about Dragic’s omission rather than Parker’s inclusion.
2. Kyle Lowry, Point Guard, Toronto Raptors
Remember when we mentioned all-star snubs based off personality-related issues?
Kyle Lowry has materialized as the principal floor general for the third-place Toronto Raptors in 2013-2014.
In spite of rampant trade talks since Day 1, Lowry has amassed a top-eight 7.6 APG and 40.1 three-point percentage among league point guards. He also sits seventh with 1.6 SPG and fifth with 4.3 RPG and 10 total double-doubles (not to mention one triple-double).
The Raptors hardwood leader has contributed an efficient 16.7 PPG on 43.5 percent shooting as well. A 20.2 PER and sixth-best 7.4 win shares provide further corroborating evidence.
And for perspective, top-three superstar Paul George shares the same WS total.
Coaches made it abundantly clear that Lowry’s at times ornery nature and stubborn demeanor disqualified him from all-star consideration. That’s the only conceivable reason for selecting teammate DeMar DeRozan over Lowry.
Yes, DeRozan is enjoying a fine campaign with 21.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG from the shooting guard position. But he is also comparatively deficient in FG percentage (42.7), three-point rate (30.5), assists (3.6), steals (1.2), PER (17.8) and WS (4.4).
Ouch.
If not for the final entry, Lowry would have earned the abhorrent title of Snub Of All Snubs.
1. Anthony Davis, Forward/Center, New Orleans Pelicans
This is just downright shameful.
Anthony Davis has consistently played to the level of unstoppable scorer-rebounder-blocker throughout his sophomore season.
He has powered New Orleans with 20.4 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 3.3 BPG, including a team-high 51.9 percent shooting from the floor. He ranks top five in scoring and top three in boards and steals (1.5) among power forwards, while leading the NBA in defensive rejections.
Davis also boasts 10 double-doubles on the year, despite missing nearly one-sixth of the Pelicans 45 games. Roughly six of their 20 wins (5.9 officially) have come courtesy of the 6’10’’ former Wildcat as well.
Most egregiously, Davis rocks a 26.8 PER in just his second NBA campaign. Only Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Kevin Love own higher ratings.
Those four stalwarts also happen to be arguably four of the Association’s best players.
Professional etiquette prevents me from using all-caps as a means of accenting my surely mutual befuddlement with other sports writers over Davis’ exclusion.
Suffice it to say, Anthony Davis was the most deserving player not selected to the 2013-2014 NBA All-Star game.
Hopefully someone sends him a gift certificate for a mind-easing spa treatment during the break.
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