By: Chuddy | 8 AM |
The 73rd annual NBA All-Star is fast approaching, taking place on Sunday February 18th at 8 PM EST on TNT. The game will be played in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the league has opted to return to the conventional East vs. West format, ditching the format from recent years with captains and a draft.
The starters for the game have already been announced, as selected by a combination of fan, media, and player voting. And the reserves will be announced this Thursday night, and those players are selected by coaches around the league.
Sadly, I don’t (yet) have a media credential to vote for the game or an official awards ballot from the NBA - hopefully that will change next season. But I do have my own thoughts, and will provide the official starters and reserves for the East and West, according to King Chuddy.
Before we get into my picks, it’s important to remember a few things:
- Only 24 players can make it. Each conference only gets 12 all-stars to represent 15 teams.
- The league is more talented than ever, and competition for these spots is stiffer than it’s ever been. Believe it or not, there are A LOT of good players in the NBA with deserving cases to make an all-star team.
- Many good players will NOT make the all-star game. This is a natural consequence of points 1 and 2. There are going to be 10-15 players, at least, who can say they were “snubbed”, but again, if you want to add someone, you have to take someone off.
- There will be some tough omissions, and that’s just the nature of the beast. There have been cries to expand the all-star rosters to 15 players per conference, and maybe that’s necessary. But for now, that’s just a dream for the future.
- I did my best to be consistent, unbiased, and to explain my rationale for all of my picks, but feel free to disagree!
If you missed part one, you can click here for King Chuddy’s Eastern Conference All-Stars.
Without further ado, the official King Chuddy All-Star ballot for the Western Conference:
WEST STARTERS:
G - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
G - Luka Doncic
F - Kawhi Leonard
F - Kevin Durant
F - Nikola Jokic
Three of these starters were absolutely etched in stone for me; SGA, Luka, and Jokic. Jokic is the best player in the league, and he’s leading the defending champs to a 33-15 record while having yet another MVP-caliber season.
Speaking of MVP caliber, Gilgeous-Alexander has risen to that level, as he’s currently third in the MVP Ladder, trailing only Jokic and Embiid. He’s been the best overall guard in the NBA this season and he’s got the Thunder in the hunt for a 1 seed out West. Doncic isn’t too far behind SGA, himself, as he’s currently 6th on the MVP ladder and if the Mavs could climb into the top 4 he’d have a very real case.
The forward spots are where it gets a bit tougher. Much like in the official lineup, I gave KD the nod for one of the spots. He’s been the most consistent player on the Suns, doing it all on both ends at a ridiculous level and keeping the team afloat through injuries and adversity.
The final spot came down to Kawhi or LeBron James for me. Unlike the fans/media/players I went with Leonard. Kawhi has been incredibly durable this season and for the past few months he has looked a lot like peak Kawhi on offense and defense. The Clippers have been the best team in the league over that span and Leonard is the biggest reason.
WEST RESERVES:
G - Stephen Curry
G - De’Aaron Fox
F - LeBron James
F - Rudy Gobert
F - Domantas Sabonis
WC - Anthony Edwards
WC - Paul George
It feels weird not having Curry in the starting lineup, but he’s having an inefficient season by his standards and the Warriors are 12th in the West right now. Luka and SGA have been flat-out better.
LeBron also feels like a dirty omission from the starting lineup, but the Lakers have a losing record and he’s just not quite elevating his team in the way that Leonard and Durant have been. This one was a brutal call but those two have just been slightly better and more important for me.
Fox and Sabonis have quietly been one of the best duos in the league this year, and have the Kings in the heart of the playoff race. Fox has been incredibly clutch, raised his 3-point shooting efficiency, and has been an elite two-way floor general for a playoff team. Sabonis is averaging a cool 20/13/8, he’s leading the league in rebounding and is 7th in assists. Unfortunately he gets overshadowed by the incredible Jokic, but he deserves his praise.
Edwards and Gobert have been the best players on the best team all season long in the west. Edwards has taken the leap to superstardom; he’s the unquestioned focal point of the offense and a very good perimeter defender. Gobert has returned to his DPOY form, and is anchoring the best defense in the league with a bullet.
George has been one of the best two-way wings in the league, playing for one of the league’s best teams. He’s done a great job filling his role for the Clippers and is still putting up big numbers on monster efficiency, while guarding great players every night.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
G - Devin Booker
F - Lauri Markkanen
F - Anthony Davis
F - Alperen Sengun
F - Zion Williamson
F - Brandon Ingram
Every one of these guys has a very legitimate argument to be on the team, but alas, only 12 can make it. Booker has been an amazing scorer, and done pretty well - while being overtasked - as a point guard. But he’s missed a handful of games and it’s been KD taking on more of a distributing role lately and leading the Suns team.
Markkanen is having a great year, but he’s missed 10 games, the Jazz have a losing record, and they’ve been a very balanced team, getting big contributions from several guys. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t get there with an All-Star from Utah.
AD is probably the most eyebrow raising snub (pun intended), as he’ll almost certainly make the actual squad. But the Lakers don’t deserve two All-Stars this year at all. He’s been very good, but LeBron is still the leader and driving force of this team and AD still needs to be more consistent on a nightly basis. Gobert has been better defensively and Sabonis has been better offensively. Both have contributed to winning more than Davis. Sorry Laker fans.
Sengun was the omission that hurt me the most, as his leap this year has been awesome to watch. He’s putting up 22/9/5, completely keeping the Rockets afloat offensively, and has been giving off major baby-Jokic vibes (absurdly high praise). However, the Rox have been free-falling since their hot start, and their success has been mostly related to their defense. But make no mistake, Alpie will be a fixture in the All-Star game for many years to come.
