Reserves Revealed For 2021 NBA All-Star Game

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Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.

Julius Randle looks on as his mom congratulated him on his all-star berth via video.

I still say the game should not go on. Anyway, the league named the all-star starters for the game that is taking place on Sunday, March 7th in Atlanta.

The coaches get to vote for the reserves in their respective conferences. They don’t get to pick their own horses, though.

So here are the players. And a couple of images so you can see their handsome faces!

EASTERN CONFERENCE

JAYSON TATUM (CELTICS): Even though he’s had struggles with COVID, he’s still putting in a more remarkable season than last year, when he made his first all-star berth. 26.1 points (outside the Top 10), 7.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists.

Perhaps more miraculously, he’s still only 19 years old!

(I’m kidding. He’s turning 23 on March 3.)

JULIUS RANDLE (KNICKS): Truth be told, I am extremely happy he got selected. The 2014 NBA Draft was so overhyped that it was ridiculous and Julius Randle got caught in those talks. But you could tell that the potential that he has. He finally realized it this season in New York as he’s become a wonderful playmaker to go along with his vaunted scoring and rebounding. 23.3 points (just outside the Top 20 in the league), 10.9 boards (11th), and 5.5 assists. Fantastic campaign thus far. And the Knicks are DECENT this season!

NIKOLA VUCEVIC (MAGIC): He is having a career year. Vucevic is averaging 23.9 points (Top 20) and 11.7 boards (6th). He has two 40-point games this month (including a career-best 43 points on the 5th against Chicago). What a year he’s having.

BEN SIMMONS (SIXERS): Simmons makes his third straight all-star game. While people that can’t make a shot from three feet away call him a coward for not shooting threes, he has become one of the best defensive players in the game and is a triple-double threat every time he steps on the floor. 15.7 points, 8.3 boards (just outside the Top 20), 7.9 assists (just outside the Top 10), and 1.6 steals (8th) per game for Simmons. People that know how to play basketball realize how incredible he is.

JAYLEN BROWN (CELTICS): The other J in Boston makes his first all-star game. I will never know why people thought this guy wasn’t going to be great when you can see his body language and his quiet confidence when he’s playing. 25.7 points (13th) and 5.6 rebounds per for Brown.

JAMES HARDEN (NETS): This is a no-brainer no matter what you think of him. 25.0 points (15th), 7.5 boards, and 11.2 assists (league leader!). Sometimes, the game looks too easy for him. In their game against the Kings, he had his 6th triple-double. And that win gave their Nets their 7th straight. Simply put, he’s still a Top 5 player in the league. Maybe Top 3 depending on how you like your players.

Or Top 1 Million if you just don’t like him.

ZACH LaVINE (BULLS): He was a hotly disputed subject for this game but I just think you can’t ignore what he’s done this season. He scores a bunch (28.6 points per is good for 7th), is a good rebounder for his position (5.4 per game), and a nice passer (5.1 assists per game). Sure, he probably can’t guard a lamppost at times. But the guy can do a lot on the court. He deserves to be on here.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

PAUL GEORGE (CLIPPERS): The guy is too easy to make fun of. But he’s still a really really good basketball player. He’s still one of the best on both ends of the floor. And he’s still scoring at a high rate (24.6 points per game would make him 17th if he qualified). Throw in 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists (career-high!), and 1.2 steals per game.

ZION WILLIAMSON (PELICANS): This dude is a monster in the paint. And he’s having a monster season overall at 25.1 points (14th) and 6.8 boards. There is no question why the NBA wants to promote him, especially with his freaky athleticism while having the body of the Incredible Hulk. Also, he’s the first player born in the 2000s to make the all-star game. Gosh, I’m old.

ANTHONY DAVIS (LAKERS): Davis not having as good a season as last year’s is well-documented. But his “down season” is still better than like 90-95 percent ofthe league. 22.5 points, 8.4 boards, 1.8 blocks (6th), and 1.3 steals; that line is still excellence. Davis is not likely to play, though, as he is still shelved with the Achilles injury (AY-CHILL-US!!!).

RUDY GOBERT (JAZZ): We all know Gobert is not flashy but hot diggity, he’s one of the main reasons why the Utah Jazz are so hot right now. He doesn’t score as much (13.9 points) but we all know his forte is defense defense defense (13.5 boards is good for 3rd in that category while 2.8 blocks is 2nd in the league).

CHRIS PAUL (SUNS): The Point God is still getting it done in his 16th season. 16.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists (5th), and 1.2 steals. He and LeBron James are probably going to be all-star into their 60s. But yeah, what Paul has done for the Phoenix Suns has been incredible. They’re 4th in the West right now at 20-10.

DAMIAN LILLARD (BLAZERS): We know what time it is. He wasn’t going to get snubbed as he is considered the best point guard in the game today. He scores everywhere (29.6 points is good for 4th), rebounds well for his size (4.4), and still has time to find his teammates (8.0 assists is 9th). And when Dame Time comes, we’re always in for a treat.

DONOVAN MITCHELL (JAZZ): Even before Shaquille O’Neal was unnecessarily needling him, he’s always done his thing. His thing is 24.5 points (17th), 4.4 boards, and 5.2 assists for the team with the best record in the league. What a gamer he’s been.

Yes, there were a lot of snubbed players. We can go through the list: Trae Young, Tobias Harris, Devin Booker, Brandon Ingram, Domantas Sabonis, Gordon Hayward, Fred VanVleet, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Khris Middleton, Ja Morant, Mike Conley, Russell Westbrook, De’Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, DeMar DeRozan, Collin Sexton… good grief, this league is full of talented players.

But honestly, I don’t have the energy to fight to the death for these snubs. I’m sure I left a few of them out there. But whoever I wrote on here have a case for these spos. And don’t argue that with me because I’m always right.

Bullet Passes

After a couple of quiet offensive games, Nikola Jokic got aggressive against Portland. 41-5-5. He shot 32 times, which is his second most attempts this season (his most being that 50-point game).

Well, of course, the minute I talk well about a team, they lose. The Wizards had their 5-game win streak snapped by the Clippers, who got a lot of help from their bench. Four of their guys from the pine scored in double figs.

What a first game by new Wolves coach Chris Finch, right? They had to go against the mighty Milwaukee Bucks and promptly got blown out.

The Nets continue to make mincemeat (do people still use that??) on the Pacific Division as they went back home to beat the Sacramento Kings. That’s 7 straight victories overall for the Nets.

And the Warriors can’t do three in a row again. They snapped their two-game skid by beating the Knicks. This is almost like Street Fighter II taking forever to get to Street Fighter III.

The Cavs finally won a game! Thank you, Lamar Stevens!

That game-winner snapped a 10-game losing streak. Man, that burns. It’s like the Cavs from a decade ago.

NBA Scoreboard

Feb. 23, 2021

Watch This Play

Luka did this to the Celtics. Not much razzmatazz hop skiddily-doo but more like a deadly assassin in the clutch.

We forget that he’s still only 21 years old. Good grief.

Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.

You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.

You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.

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