The reserves for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, the league's 74th edition, were announced on Thursday. They are:
East
Darius Garland
Damian Lillard
Tyler Herro
Cade Cunningham
Jaylen Brown
Pascal Siakam
West
James Harden
Anthony Edwards
Jalen Williams
Anthony Davis
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Alperen Sengun
Victor Wembanyama
Naturally, snubs exist every year. Not every player putting up numbers can make it. This year's game takes on a new wrinkle with three teams drafted out of the 24 player pool, with the league upholding the 12 players per conference.
Surely, teams (and players) get rewarded for winning. That makes it understandable why Garland (21.8, 6.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 50%), averaging less points and assists than Lamelo Ball (28.2 points, 7.3 assists, 5.3, 42%) and less points than Tyrese Maxey (27.1 points, 5.9 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 44%), made it. Garland, even though the Cavaliers have the league's best record at 39-9, would be the most questionable.
Siakam (20.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 53 percent) is the lone representative for the 26-20 Pacers, while Tyrese Haliburton is having a worse year across the board (18.3 points, 8.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds) than he had last year when he put up 20.1 points and 10.9 assists.
Lillard, averaging 25.3 points, 7.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds on 45 percent from the field, is the second star on a top-five seed and has delivered clutch moments this season. Cunningham is leading a Pistons’ team that is currently 23-24 (8th in the eastern conference) after having won just 31 games combined over the last two seasons. Cunningham's size at the guard position is unique, and he has posted seven triple-doubles this season (25.0 points, 9.3 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 45 percent). Brown, one of the top wings in the NBA, is the second star on a prohibitive favorite Celtic team, and Tyler Herro (24.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists on 47 percent) has blossomed into the Miami Heat’s best player.
The Atlanta Hawks, 22-26 and 3-7 in their last 10 games, boast one of the league’s top playmakers in Trae Young, a 3-time all-star who two seasons ago was not an all-star despite averaging 26.2 points and 10.2 assists over the regular season. This season, he is the league’s assist leader (11.4), while averaging 22.5 points. He has never been the most efficient player, with a 43 percent career average and 40 percent this season, and is a volume shooter. But his ability to play make, set his teammates up and put defenses in difficult positions not able to sag off for fear of him hitting the three but not able to play too tight for fear of him finding the open man, is special. In many ways, Young epitomizes the flash and flair that is shown in all-star games. If the Hawks had been more successful, he makes it. Young is a career 3-time all-star whose numbers would indicate that he’d been there more than a few times.
In the Western Conference, Norman Powell’s emergence in the absence of Kawhi Leonard (24.0 points on 49 percent shooting, 16.8 shots per game this season vs. 10.1 last season) gave him a strong argument to represent the currently 27-20 Clippers. Harden (21.7 points, 8.4 assists, 5.8 rebounds on 40 percent) is the engine that makes the Clippers go. He initiates the action for teammates, and when you factor in that he has more pressure to deliver on a nightly basis because of the added responsibility, it makes sense as to why he was named over his teammate Powell. Name recognition does not hurt, either.
Generally, the higher seeds get two, or in some cases three, all-stars. Jalen Williams (21.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists on 48 percent), with Chet Holmgren out due to injury, has seen a three shot increase from last season and is now the bonafide sidekick alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the absence of Holmgren.
Edwards, Davis, and Wembanyama were locks, and Sengun (19.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 49 percent) is rightfully the lone representative from the 32-15 Houston Rockets, who as of this writing hold a lead of 0.5 games on the 32-16 Memphis Grizzlies for second in the Western Conference.
The Western dilemma is whether Domantas Sabonis, who plays like a lesser version of Jokic in northern California, should have made it in over the Grizzles’ Jaren Jackson Jr. The Kings are 24-23 (10th) while the Grizzlies at 32-16 are third in the conference. Jackson Jr. (22.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 50 percent) is making his 2nd all-star appearance (2022-23), while Sabonis has been named an all-star twice (2020, 2021). This season thus far, Sabonis is averaging 20.9 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists on 61 percent from the field. His 14.5 rebounds lead the NBA, a category in which he has led each of the last two seasons (13.7 in 2023-24, 12.3 in 2022-23). He has recorded eight triple-doubles, six 20-rebound games, and three 20-20 games. On January 10 against the Boston Celtics, he recorded 23 points and a career-high 28 rebounds.
Jackson Jr.’s 22.8 points are a career-high for him, and he has eclipsed 30 points seven times. Notable performances for him include 39 points and 6 rebounds against the Washington Wizards, 32 points and 6 rebounds against the Golden State Warriors, 33 points against both the New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves, 38 points and 12 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns, and 35 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists against the Dallas Mavericks.
It happens every February, with only 24 spots available to probably 40 all-star caliber players. But injuries and records always play a role. With Luka Doncic having missed 22 games, Kyrie Irving has taken on a leadership role and averaged 24.2 points, 4.9 assists, and 4.6 rebounds on 48 percent shooting as the Mavericks are 26-22. Like Young, and Lamelo Ball, Irving is the epitome of the flair and flash that you want to see in an all-star game.
Again though, who do you take out for Irving? Harden for the majority of the season (Kawhi Leonard has only played in nine games) has more pressure, and the Clippers have the better record, albeit by 1.5 games. Edwards is a lock, and Williams as stated has emerged as a force and the wingman to Gilgeous-Alexander on the 37-9 Thunder.
Looking at it overall, Ball is a curious omission because he led the east guards in the fan voting. He is currently dealing with an ankle injury though and will be re-evaluated next week, so he probably would have not played in the game anyway.
Young’s 9.7 assists per game since entering the league are the most by any player in that time frame. He should have the biggest gripe with voters.
Sabonis is the most glaring out west. The guard spots are taken up by deserving guys, but the Kings' big man has no doubt played like a top five big in the NBA this season.
There are snubs every year, and this season is no different. You wish that all deserving guys could get in, but in the end, there are only 24 spots.
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