The starters for this year's NBA All-Star Game were finally announced today after the fans, players and members of the media weighed in their votes. They could each fill out a ballot with 2 back court and 3 front court players for each conference. The fan votes carried 50 percent weight, while the players and members of the media had 25 percent each. In the event of a tie, the fan votes would be the tie breaker.
Significant changes were expected when the final results were released as fan favorites could still be excluded from final list. Other players were also expected to move in the rankings and even earn a starter spot. A good example of this was Zaza Pachulia, as he was second in fan votes to start at a front court position, but ended up in the sixth spot after the players and members of the media cast their vote as per Bleacher Report.
Isaiah Thomas from the Boston Celtics and Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder were both snubbed from starting at the All-Star game, despite the down-right heroic numbers they have been putting up. When asked to comment about not being voted in as a starter, the two point guards had slightly different reactions.
Westbrook said, in a post-game interview with Foxsports, that he would simply continue to play his game and not think about being an All-Star Starter. "I don't play for All-Star nods, I play to win championships and every night I compete at a high level." He also added that "It'll work out, just continue to do what I'm doing and play the game the right way and everything else will work out." Westbrook won the All-Star Game MVP award 2 years ago when he came off the bench .
Thomas, on the other hand, said that he was a little displeased with the results, as per the interview with ESPN. "I've done everything I possibly could to put myself in a position to be able to start in the All-Star game and it didn't happen so I've just got to get back in the gym and keep working." He did, however, thank the fans, his peers, and members of the media for voting for him saying "I appreciate everybody who voted for me, especially you guys, the media showed me some love. And then my peers, my peers showed me love too. So it hurt, but I'll be alright."
There are still a lot of slots to fill for the rest of the participants for this year's All-Star game as the bench for each team needs to be filled up. With the season these two superstars are having, it is highly likely that they will make it onto the team as bench players. The game is still a few weeks away, so we would still have to wait and see if these two get the recognition they deserve and participate in the All-Star Game.
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