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Charlotte Bobcats: Is Al Jefferson An All-Star Snub?

By Arash Darbandi

January 31, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Charlotte Bobcats center Al Jefferson (25) moves to the basket against the defense of Los Angeles Lakers center Robert Sacre (50) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
January 31, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Charlotte Bobcats center Al Jefferson (25) moves to the basket against the defense of Los Angeles Lakers center Robert Sacre (50) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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January 31, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Charlotte Bobcats center Al Jefferson (25) and small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) celebrate the110-100 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers following the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
January 31, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Charlotte Bobcats center Al Jefferson (25) and small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) celebrate the110-100 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers following the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

Al Jefferson, welcome to the life of playing for a small-market team. Do you want to know how big of an All-Star snub Big Al is? He is such a huge snub that he is not even being considered an All-Star snub. Taking a brief look at ESPN.com and Bleacher Report All-Star snub lists and Al Jefferson’s name rarely makes an appearance. I guess that what happens when you play for Charlotte, right? Last week I wrote an article here stating Jefferson’s case for being named to an All-Star reserve, but it seemed like the Bobcats big man didn’t get any love from the coaches. I don’t blame the fans for overlooking Jefferson. I mean all due respect to North Carolina, but Big Al plays in Charlotte. Not the biggest market in the world or fan base in the world.

We all know the epic January Kevin Durant just put together. In this piece I highlight Durant’s best five games in January, but hey, NBA fans; Durant wasn’t the only player tearing it up last month. Big Al put up an average of 24 points on 53.7 percent shooting, 11 rebounds, 2.6 assists, one steal and a block per game. Jefferson’s All-Star push has bumped his season averages to 20 points and 10 rebounds a game! If those aren’t All-Star numbers, I don’t know what is. Jefferson has put the Bobcats back on the map and he deserves some respect and recognition for it. Lets take a look at the frontcourt reserves in the Eastern Conference: Chris Bosh, Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah, and Paul Millsap. Based off name recognition those players deserves a spot. But let’s look deeper into the numbers.

Chris Bosh: 16.9 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 20.55 PER, .612 TS%
Roy Hibbert: 11.8 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 16.52 PER, .521 TS%
Joakim Noah: 11.7 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 19.09 PER, .518 TS%
Paul Millsap: 17.8 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.2 BPG, 20.39 PER, .550 TS%
Big Al: 19.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG, 21.60 PER, .509 TS%

I mean, his TS% percentage is a tad behind the other Eastern Conference bigs, but he dominates them when it comes to PER and scoring. Plus that with the fact that he is the only source of offense for a playoff-contending Charlotte Bobcats squad and we got ourselves a huge All-Star snub. You can make a case for Jefferson for being the top center in the East, but yet he won’t be seen come All-Star Weekend.

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