Every season, after the announcement of the 14 players named All-Star reserves, there’s always more talk about the players who didn’t make it, but arguably deserved to. There are viral videos of a young Devin Booker complaining about not being picked and of Rudy Gobert moved to tears by a snub.
So with all due respect to Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown, Tyler Herro, Pascal Siakam, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, Anthony Davis, Victor Wembanyama, Alperen Şengün, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Williams, and James Harden — the 14 players who did make it — they will not be the focus of this article.
Here are seven players who arguably could have made it instead, in no particular order:
C Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
Sabonis’ snub is particularly egregious and got arguably the biggest reaction out of any on social media. While the Kings haven’t been great this season — their 24-23 record is good only for 10th in the Western Conference — they’ve turned it around since firing Mike Brown on December 27. Interim head coach Doug Christie has gone 11-5, including a stretch of 10 wins in 12 games. Individually, Sabonis has been brilliant, leading the league in rebounds for the third consecutive season, dropping 20.9 points per game, and shooting a career-high 48.1% from deep, the second-highest among 223 players who have played at least 30 games and attempted at least two threes per game. This season, Sabonis has averaged more points, rebounds, and assists than Şengün on significantly better efficiency.
PG Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
Amid the 76ers’ disastrous 19-27 start to the season, Maxey has been the lone bright spot, averaging 27.1 points, 6.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Although his efficiency (51.3% effective field goal percentage) hasn’t been great, his exploits have been the only reason Philadelphia is even remotely in the playoff fight, given the injuries that Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Jared McCain have battled through. The 24-year-old has the seventh-highest usage rate in the league among players who have appeared in 30 or more games and his turnover rate is the lowest among those seven players. Maxey has averaged more points, assists, steals, and blocks than Brown while shooting it more efficiently. Maxey also leads Brown in Box Plus-Minus and Value over Replacement Player by significant margins.
SG Norman Powell, LA Clippers
Powell garnered some criticism in the offseason when he described George’s departure as “addition by subtraction”, but he’s been proven right. The 10-year veteran has put up the finest season of his career, averaging 24.0 points per game while shooting a career-best 43.5% from beyond the arc, and the Clippers are surprisingly in sixth place in the Western Conference and have posted the best net rating in the NBA over their last 10 games. LA absolutely deserves an All-Star, but it should’ve been Powell, not Harden. Yes, Harden has averaged more assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks, but Powell has been far more efficient — Harden is shooting a putrid 39.9% from the field — more consistent, and less prone to mistakes. The Beard leads the league in turnovers and it’s been far from his best season. Powell, not Harden, is the reason for the Clippers’ success.
PG LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Ball led Eastern Conference guards in fan voting, thanks to his immense popularity, but was left out of the starting lineup because players and media members — rightfully — preferred Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson. Some of it has to do with his incredible volume — Ball leads the league in usage rate — but he averages more combined points, rebounds, and assists than any Eastern Conference All-Star guard. He has missed 13 games, his effective field goal percentage is just 50.8%, and his team is just 12-32, so it’s easy to see why he didn’t make it. But ultimately, the All-Star game is about entertainment, and there’s arguably no player more entertaining than Ball.
PG Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks
Dallas was in fourth in the Western Conference when Luka Dončić went down with a calf strain on Christmas Day, and since his injury, the Mavericks have been in free fall. Including the defeat on Christmas Day, they have gone just 7-12 without their talisman, and even Irving has missed seven games across that stretch. It’s fair to ding Irving for his lack of success as Dallas’ No. 1 option, as well as the fact that he has missed 10 games this season. Still, he’s averaging 24.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game on hyper-efficient 48-42-90 splits, and the Mavericks are still alive in the Play-In race despite a slew of injuries. He has averaged more points this season than Harden and shot the ball much more efficiently, and LA is only 1.5 games ahead of Dallas in the standings.
SF Josh Hart, New York Knicks
Hart’s All-Star case is an interesting one, because he intrinsically has more value to the Knicks than to any other squad. His fearlessness, hustle, and incredible stamina makes him the perfect fit for New York’s roster and play style. His counting stats don’t jump off the page — his 13.9 points per game would be by far the fewest of any All-Star — but with 5.7 assists and 1.6 steals, his impact is multi-faceted. Plus, he’s averaging 9.7 boards per game at six-foot-four, making him one of the greatest pound-for-pound rebounders of all time. Advanced numbers love him; he ranks in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive win shares, effective field goal percentage, and Value over Replacement Player, all while ranking second in the league in minutes played. The 32-16 Knicks are good enough to warrant three All-Stars.
PG Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
With Sabonis’ and Young’s omissions, the leading rebounder and leading assister were not named All-Stars. Young has averaged a career-high 11.4 assists per game this season, leading the league, and he and Nikola Jokić are the only two players to dish out more than 10 dimes per contest. The Hawks have been surprisingly competitive this season, sitting in the East’s top six for most of the season before their current seven-game skid dropped them to just ninth place in the conference. Young’s efficiency hasn’t been incredible — he’s shooting just 34.0% from deep — but advanced statistics prefer him to Brown, and he has averaged more assists, steals, and blocks per game this season than Herro.
All-Snub Team Snubs: SG Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns; PF Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
