Valentine’s Day is just right around the corner, and even though love will be in the air, so will basketball.
The NBA All-Star Weekend will be in full effect just days after Cupid is out to work. The All-Star Weekend is highlighted with many events, such as the Rising Star Challenge, a celebrity basketball game, Skills Challenge, Three Point Challenge, Dunk Contest and, the main event, the All-Star game.
For the first time, the fans had a chance to vote for the players they would like to see start the all-star game. Players and select media members were also allowed to vote, but the fans’ vote weighted more than the other votes. Because of this, the fan favorites would start, not the best players from each conference.
The Western Conference All-Star starters will be Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis. The Eastern Conference All-Stars starters will be Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, Jimmy Butler, LeBron James, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
With every All-Star Game, there are always all-star snubs, and the two snubs comes from the guard play. From the Western Conference, Russell Westbrook is considered to be the biggest snub in NBA All-Star history.
Westbrook is currently averaging a triple-double, scoring 30.6 points a game, grabbing 10.6 rebounds a game, and dishing out 10.4 assists a game. No one has averaged a triple-double besides the Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robinson. Westbrook is on track to have a historic season and is one of the front runners to obtaining the MVP honors, yet he will not be starting in the All-Star Game.
From the Eastern Conference, Isaiah Thomas is the snub everyone is talking about. At just 5’9” Thomas is second in the league in scoring. He is arguably one of the best sub six foot players to ever play the game of basketball. He is also leading his team back into the playoff, as they currently sit third in the Eastern Conference.
Although these two players will not be starting, they will be playing in the All-Star Game. I imagine that they will use this as motivation and will continue on the tear they are on in their respective conferences, but before they do, they will be putting on a show for the fans of basketball and for the fans of entertainment.
The NBA All-Star Weekend is February 17-19. Cupid will be watching. Will you?