It is All-Star Weekend in the NBA, with the actual game coming tomorrow, and while the game itself is completely meaningless, especially in recent years, the title of All-Star still holds some meaning, so I have made my list of which players deserve to be All-Stars this season, and which ones deserve to be the 5 starters from each conference. I've also included injury replacements for Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who are injured and will not be participating. Here are the players who deserve the honor, with actual starters in bold, reserves underlined, and injury replacements in italics:
Eastern Conference
Starters
PF - Giannis Antetokounmpo - MIL
C - Karl-Anthony Towns - NYK
PF - Jayson Tatum - BOS
PG - Trae Young - ATL
PG - Cade Cunningham - DET
Reserves
PG - Jalen Brunson - NYK
PG - Darius Garland - CLE
C - Nikola Vucevic - CHI (starting replacement for Giannis)
PF - Evan Mobley - CLE
C - Jarrett Allen - CLE
PG - Damian Lillard - MIL
PG - Tyrese Maxey - PHI
Injury Replacement
SF - Donovan Mitchell - CLE
Trae Young was finally made an All-Star, after years of deserving a starting spot, even though he had to be added as an injury replacement. Vucevic was overlooked this year, but deserves to be starting in place of Antetokounmpo, but is instead not on the team, joining Jarrett Allen and Tyrese Maxey, who should also be there. Jaylen Brown, Tyler Herro, and Pascal Siakim should have been left off the team.
Western Conference
Starters
C - Nikola Jokic - DEN
SF - LeBron James - LAL
C - Domantas Sabonis - SAC
PG - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - OKC
PG - James Harden - LAC
Reserves
C - Victor Wembanyama - SAS
PF - Anthony Davis - DAL
SG - Devin Booker - PHX
SG - Anthony Edwards - MIN
C - Alperen Sengun - HOU
PG - Stephen Curry - GSW
C - Jaren Jackson Jr. - MEM
Injury Replacement
PG - De'Aaron Fox - SAS
Domantas Sabonis, the league leader in rebounds for the third straight season, was once again left off the All-Star team, but he should have been starting instead of sitting at home. Devin Booker should have made the team rather than teammate Kevin Durant, who was named a starter, and De'Aaron Fox should have been included instead of Kyrie Irving. Jalen Williams should have been left off to make room for Sabonis.
All-Time Player Rank Updates
Kevin Durant has passed John Stockton to move up to #12
Nikola Jokic has passed Dirk Nowitzki to move up to #27
Giannis Antetokounmpo has passed George Mikan to move up to #31
Anthony Davis has passed Kevin Johnson to move up to #49
Damian Lillard has passed Clyde Drexler to move up to #53
Jimmy Butler has passed Louie Dampier to move up to #81
