Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry aren't NBA All-Star starters
The 2017 NBA All-Star Game starters were announced on Thursday night. The two biggest snubs have to be point guards Russell Westbrook and Kyle Lowry.
On Thursday night, the starting lineups for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game were announced. While none of the 10 players elected to start for their respective conferences were egregious additions, there were two notable snubs in both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference backcourts.
Those two players are Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook and Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. This has to do with the way that these All-Star starting lineups were constructed with two backcourt players and three frontcourt players per team.
Getting the nod over Lowry in the East were Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving and Lowry’s Toronto teammate shooting guard DeMar DeRozan. Irving is a great player, but probably gets in over Lowry since he plays in Cleveland alongside LeBron James. Winning an NBA Championship with the go-ahead bucket over Golden State doesn’t hurt either, which is still fresh in people’s minds this season.
While Lowry’s starting lineup absence isn’t ideal, not seeing Westbrook get the nod in the West just doesn’t feel right. He is averaging a triple-double for the Thunder through the halfway point — no player has averaged a triple-double at the halfway point since Oscar Robertson did it over 50 years ago for the Cincinnati Royals.
Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden should be a starter in the Western Conference backcourt. Along with Westbrook, Harden is a serious contender to be NBA MVP this season. His Rockets are something else.
As for the spot that should have gone to Westbrook, it ultimately went to Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. It isn’t a travesty that Curry got the start over Westbrook, but he’s not going to win his third straight NBA MVP this season. Curry has swallowed his pride to let Kevin Durant be the star player for the 2016-17 Warriors.
Westbrook and Lowry will make their respective All-Star teams, but now as reserves. Unless a starter gets hurt between now and mid-February, Westbrook and Lowry will have to come off the bench in New Orleans.
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