There is no scientific data to back this up, but it seems the concept of the NBA’s All-Star game generates more discussion than the playing of it.
For good reason, perhaps. As exhibitions, All-Star games are often unavoidably limp affairs.
But the central premise behind an All-Star game – “who are the best players in this sport?” – is one few fans tire of debating.
So it is with the NBA All-Star game, the full squads for which were announced over the weekend. Secondary events like the three-point shoot-out and dunk competition offer the real entertainment in the build-up to a game that, by its very nature, simply cannot replicate the excitement of real basketball.
But that idea of who should be honoured by inclusion in the squads is the best justification for the existence of the game.
In the spirit of that debate, we offer the two best players who will not be playing in New Orleans this year.
In the Eastern Conference, one player is easy to pinpoint. Point guard Kyle Lowry has led Toronto to respectability and, if you believe the advanced statistics, been the best guard in the East, period.
On a team with five guards, it is crazy to leave off Lowry, who is scoring 16.8 points per game and averaging 7.6 assists, second in the conference. He even chips in with 4.3 rebounds, fourth among Eastern players with at least five assists a game.
Miami’s Dwyane Wade is still a very good player and it is not his fault the fans voted him in, but he has missed about 25 per cent of the season. And while Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson is not having a bad year, it feels like he got in mostly on name recognition.
The East guard crop this year is, like the conference’s teams, rather weak. If players like Isaiah Thomas (Sacramento) or Goran Dragic (Phoenix) or Mike Conley (Memphis) were his competition, you could leave Lowry out. But they are not, and he should be in.
Over in the West, with an All-Star squad that lacks a second true centre behind Dwight Howard (Houston), DeMarcus Cousins’s absence is glaring.
No, his Sacramento Kings are not a good team, but Cousins has been a top-10 overall player by just about any advanced measure. He is both a top-10 rebounder and scorer, and he even has a weird tendency to accumulate steals, by big-man standards.
His defence still needs work, but he has produced at an undeniably high level, offensively.
The West is so good that there is not anyone who necessarily should not be there in favour of Cousins. But Kobe Bryant, voted in by the fans despite a knee injury, will not play. His replacement should be the Kings' emerging young star.
PREVIEW
Players of the week
• Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves: Had one of the finer individual efforts of the season with 43 points and 19 rebounds against Atlanta in a game the Timberwolves somehow managed to lose. Scored at least 28 and pulled 14 boards in two other contests.
• Goran Dragic, Phoenix Suns: Was the spark behind Phoenix’s push, scoring 27.25 points per game with six assists. In a win over Indiana, scored 28 with seven assists and only two turnovers.
• Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks: The ageless German averaged 33.3 points in three contests, with a 38-point, 17-rebound game in a narrow loss to rivals Houston. Also remarkably made all 27 of his free throw attempts.
Teams of the week
Western Conference’s second tier: It was a remarkable week for the current fifth through eighth teams in the West. Memphis, Phoenix, Houston and Golden State went an aggregate 13-1, led by the Grizzlies and Suns at 4-0.
Duds of the week
• Paul George, Indiana Pacers: Still having an excellent season for the East’s leaders, but he shot 16-for-57 (28 per cent) in three games, including a loss to Phoenix.
• Brooklyn Nets: Just when it looked like things had clicked for the Nets, they lost three straight, including a crucial match-up with division rivals Toronto.
Games of the week
• Phoenix at Houston Rockets, tomorrow: Two Western Conference teams jockeying for play-offs position meet in the middle of hot streaks.
• Minnesota at Oklahoma City Thunder, tomorrow: Kevin Love versus Kevin Durant in a battle of two of the league’s five best players, who also both happen to be named Kevin.
jraymond@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
