The 2018 NBA All-Star reserves were announced on Tuesday, and the talk, as usual, will immediately go to who was snubbed and who wasn't. Our Jack Maloney covered that in depth, but beyond the snubs there were some interesting factoids from this year's selections that are worth highlighting.
In case you missed it, here are the reserves:
East
- Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors (fourth selection)
- Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards (first)
- Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers (first)
- John Wall, Washington Wizards (fifth)
- Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks (first)
- Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers (fifth)
- Al Horford, Boston Celtics (fifth)
West
- Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers (third)
- Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (seventh)
- Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors (fourth)
- Jimmy Butler, Minnesota Timberwolves (fourth)
- Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors (third)
- LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs (sixth)
- Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves (first)
Here are a few interesting notes from Tuesday's selections:
Warriors make history
The Warriors have four All-Stars again this season -- Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Thompson and Green -- making them the first team to ever have four All-Stars in back-to-back seasons. Nine teams have had four All-Stars in a single season before, but only three (1962 Celtics, 1983 76ers, 2017 Warriors) went on to win that year's NBA title.
Warriors are the first team in NBA history to have four All-Stars in consecutive seasons and will mark the ninth time in NBA history that a team has had four All-Stars appear in the game. pic.twitter.com/VmKz0FGNS6
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) January 24, 2018
Houston, we have a problem?
For as much as coaches like to say they reward winning, the Houston Rockets -- owners of the NBA's second-best record -- have only one All-Star. James Harden was voted in as a starter, but Houston missed out on a second All-Star while the Warriors, just a couple of games ahead of the Rockets in the loss column, have four. Chris Paul's injury problems may have cost him a spot, and Clint Capela just couldn't find his way into a loaded All-Star frontcourt in the West.
Horford's stats don't exactly impress
Al Horford's impact is felt all over the court despite not having eye-popping numbers, but some are proposing that the Celtics center's averages of just over 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game aren't worthy of All-Star selection. There have actually been 48 All-Stars in NBA history who have finished the season averaging fewer than 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game (according to Basketball Reference), but only seven since the 1990-91 season. The most recent was Kyle Korver in 2014-15, who finished the season averaging 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists. The lowest ever scoring average for an All-Star was Dick McGuire, who put up 6.9 points per game for the Knicks in 1955-56.
Drummond's historic snub
Andre Drummond is having an incredible year, but his efforts went unrecognized by the NBA coaches. If Drummond's numbers stay where they are, he'll become the 27th player to average at least 14 points, 15 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. All of the previous players with those averages made the All-Star team except for Wilt Chamberlain in the 1969-70 season, likely because he only played 12 games. Drummond's got a serious beef.
No rookies ... again
This marked the seventh straight season that no rookie has made the All-Star team. The last rookie to make it was Blake Griffin with the Clippers in 2010-11. Sixers phenom Ben Simmons had the best case this season, averaging 16.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game.
