Every year, it’s the same delirium. When we discover the final total of the votes for the All-Star Game, we cannot help but point the finger at certain results which can be considered as WTF. How can such and such be in front of another? How can this guy get so many votes? The 2021 edition is no exception to the rule since there are once again some nuggets in the lot.
The subject which is undoubtedly the most noise this morning after the announcement of the results in the East and the West, is the place of Damian Lillard among the guards of his conference. The Blazers sniper finished third behind Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic, and will therefore start the All-Star Game on the bench. For a player who is probably in the Top 5 of the MVP rankings today, it stings a bit. No disrespect to Luka eh, but on the one hand we have Portland which is one of the four best teams in the West and on the other a franchise from Dallas which currently has a negative record. For players and the media, Lillard deserved to be titu, obviously not for the fans. Well, we are not going to redo the whole debate, we have already spoken about it, but we can already count on Dame to let go of her frustration on her future opponents. We warn, Dame DOLLA will release at least one 50 pawn match before the All-Star Break, how much do we bet? This isn’t the first time the Blazers superstar has fallen victim to a snub as part of the All-Star Game, but we imagine this one is at the top of the list.
When we look at the final ranking, the one which takes into account the votes of fans, players and the media, there are some aberrations. For example, see Russell Westbrook in seventh place at the level of the guards in the East, it makes you tick. Ok he hits triple-doubles, ok he’s spectacular, ok he’s a star, but his campaign with the Wizards – 13th in the East, as we recall in passing – is still very dirty, especially since the bonhomme missed several games. When we see that a guy like Ben Simmons is behind Brodie, we say to ourselves that there is a little problem somewhere. To stay with the rear of the East, Jaylen Brown only fifth, that can raise debate. The guy has an ultra-solid season, we’re talking about a real two-way player, and it is found for example behind a Zach LaVine of the Bulls. The Taurus is certainly monstrous offensively, but from there to put him above Jaylen this year? Easy eh. Still in the East but this time in the frontcourt, Jimmy Butler Still seems a bit high with his fifth place. Nothing to do with his actual level or his abilities, it’s just that he missed twelve games and that he had a hard time starting his season because of several glitches, all within a team of the Heat overall in the hard. There are others who deserve more recognition, like one Gordon Hayward for example, only tenth as he greatly participates in the Hornets’ surprise season. No sign of Khris Middleton (Bucks), Malcolm Brogdon (Pacers), Nikola Vucevic (Magic) ou Tobias Harris (Sixers) either, they who are completely absent from the Top 10. In the Western Conference, see Rudy Gobert just in front of Carmelo Anthony, ninth and tenth respectively, it’s a bit blurry, don’t you think? Rudy is notably ahead of Brandon Ingram and Christian Wood, weird a little but hey, if the defense was sought in an All-Star Game, it would be known eh. Finally, among the guards of the West, Ja Morant still seems a bit high with his sixth place. A lot of missed matches and a not phew production lately for Ja, not sure that it deserves such a spot in the hierarchy knowing that we have guys like Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, DeMar DeRozan and especially De’Aaron Fox (Kings) behind, the latter being even completely absent from the Top 10 just like a certain Mike Conley (Jazz).
As often, it is on the side of the fans that we find the biggest absurdities. Russell Westbrook has been mentioned before, but see Derrick Rose in eighth place of the guards (in front of Collin Sexton, Fred VanVleet and Ben Simmons) of the East, should not push either. We like him Derrick, it’s just that he has nothing to do there with his 13 points and 4 assists on average. And then to the West, then there is the door open to all the windows. Between Klay Thompson who finished with 335,000 votes without playing a match, Alex Caruso which is found in eighth place among the guards or Andrew Wiggins which is seventh among forwards, we are clearly on the heavy side.
So much for the morning analysis of the results of the night. You do what you want with it and maybe for you Alex Caruso deserves to go to the All-Star Game with Andrew Wiggins. But on our side, it’s not our delirium.
The details of the votes for the Eastern Conference ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/7BbjCvB9uv
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) February 19, 2021
The details of the votes for the Western Conference ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/HSCeKMzG98
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) February 19, 2021
The final fan vote for the 2021 All-Star Game! ???? pic.twitter.com/CvunCBjYzd
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) February 19, 2021
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