NBA recap: All-Star starter selections and games to watch
Western Conference All-Star starters
G – Stephen Curry
G – James Harden
F – Kevin Durant
F – LeBron James
C – Nikola Jokic
This was a little more difficult. The only locks were the backcourt of Stephen Curry and James Harden. Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson are solid reserves, but Curry rivaling his 2015-16 unanimous MVP season and Harden setting scoring records puts them in a class above Dame and Klay. Harden is firmly in the MVP discussion once again with his crazy numbers and Curry shouldn’t be too far behind with his numbers and Golden State being 28-8 with him in the lineup.
Narrowing the frontcourt down to three was different story. Kevin Durant was the only lock out of the three spots. KD averaged 33.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists a night during an 11-game stretch without Curry (and Draymond Green missing nine of them). He remains the most fluid scorer in the league and one of the best defenders in the NBA, which makes him the easiest choice here.
The final two spots were between four players: Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Paul George and LeBron James. PG is the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year award and is averaging career-highs across the board while taking the mantle as the best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony Davis continues to put up career-highs in points (29.3), rebounds (13.3), assists (4.4) and steals (1.7), but his New Orleans Pelicans are 22-25 and three games back in the playoff race.
Each of them has been exceptional while somehow adding new wrinkles to their games, but the other two get the remaining starting spots. Nikola Jokic is the offensive and defensive centerpiece of a Denver Nuggets team that’s one game back of the 1-seed. Every starter sans Joker has missed time, and there’s no player in the NBA like him. Whether it’s facilitating, shooting from deep or bullying opponents down in the post, Jokic does everything for the Nuggets.
The final selection is LeBron James. The argument against LBJ is that he’s missed 14 games and counting. That’s over a quarter of the games so far, but Curry has missed around a quarter of his team’s games too. Kawhi rarely plays on back-to-backs and has missed 12 games. So why exactly is LeBron missing two or three more games than those two such a big deal?
The King’s impact on the Los Angeles Lakers is crystal clear. They are 5-9 in the 14 games he’s missed, which includes losses at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks, two teams not exactly trying to win games. His numbers are as consistent as ever and the Lakers were the 4-seed before his injury.
He will likely win the fan vote to captain one of the teams, but his starting spot case is simple. Watch the Lakers without him and they’re a lottery team. With him, they are in a tier just below Golden State, and that comes down to LeBron.
PG plays with one All-Star and was difficult to omit, but he’s not asked to do as much as LeBron and the others offensively. The Brow plays with Jrue Holiday and other solid pieces. LeBron’s playing with young players and well-past-their-prime veterans that nobody wanted in free agency.
The missed games don’t hurt his case, they elevate it.