The Case for Kemba: Should Hornets' high-scoring point guard make All-Star roster?
Following Charlotte's comeback win over the Magic on Friday night, a game that featured a furious 41-22 run over the final 17 minutes of play, Nic Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist gathered around point guard Kemba Walker and made their demands. The two forwards insisted on the Hornets' top producer being added to Eastern Conference All-Star roster — their enthusiasm a product of Walker's second 40-point performance in three nights to lead his team to crucial overtime victories.
"Crown this man," Kidd-Gilchrist said.
The 25-year-old Walker is in the middle of a career season, his fifth in the league, and making perhaps the greatest late All-Star push of any player still waiting to hear his name called.
As the Hornets climbed out of a seven-game losing streak, their 6-foot-1 floor general was the glue holding a shorthanded roster together. On Jan. 13, he logged 23 points and five assists against the 2015 East No. 1 seed, the Atlanta Hawks. Five nights later he broke a franchise record with 52 points in a double-overtime win over the Jazz, a game in which he flirted with a monster triple-double (nine rebounds, eight assists). To double down on his teammates' demands, he followed his effort against Orlando with a 26-6-5 line against a competitive Knicks bunch.
Walker boasts career highs in points per game (20.5), rebounds per game (4.2) and true shooting percentage (54.8) and he's already topped his best win shares mark with 38 games still on the schedule.
That productivity has kicked into overdrive over the past 15 games as Walker has had to play without some combination of Kidd-Gilchrist, Batum and standout center Al Jefferson. Walker is averaging 25.7 points on 55.4 percent true shooting over that span, the fourth-highest scoring total in the league behind DeMarcus Cousins, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. You might recognize those names.
Fighting one's way into All-Star contention at the point guard position is extremely difficult — it's arguably the deepest position in the game at the moment. It's a class that includes the reigning NBA MVP, at least three future Hall of Famers playing at an extremely high level and three additional Team USA finalists, and that's not including East starter Kyle Lowry, former MVP Derrick Rose, Boston's Isaiah Thomas and Pistons pick-and-roll specialist Reggie Jackson.
The field is overloaded with talent, and Walker has annually found himself in the middle of the pack, a quality playmaker whose poor shooting percentages never truly punished opposing defenses. Now, with his 3-point shooting now 50 points higher than his previous career high, the former top-10 pick finds himself pushing into the NBA's upper echelon.
Coach-selected All-Star reserves will be announced on Thursday, and Walker has built a legitimate case to be the Hornets' first All-Star since Gerald Wallace in 2010.
Walker ranks third in player efficiency rating among Eastern Conference point guards behind Lowry and Thomas. He's fifth in PER among all East guards. According to estimated wins added, only Lowry has delivered more value to his team in the East's point guard class. More importantly, Walker's efforts on an injury-depleted roster — Kidd-Gilchrist has not played this season, Jefferson has been sidelined since November and Batum has missed six games this month — has kept Charlotte relevant in the playoff picture.
Two additional factors help Walker's cause here: The NBA's top three point guards are in the Western Conference and a few East challengers are having down years.
Last season, the East All-Stars included four point guards in Lowry, John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Jeff Teague. Lowry was voted in for the second straight season, deservedly so, but Wall, Irving and Teague are far from guarantees.
Teague will assuredly missed the cut as he's in the midst of his worst season of the Mike Budenholzer era, ranking 22nd in PER and 17th in estimated wins added among point guards. Irving should also find himself on the outside looking in after paying in just 16 games. Wall, a two-time All-Star, remains one of the most electrifying players the league has to offer, but his production has taken a significant step back in the first half and he trails Walker in most major categories.
Two guards, three forwards and two wildcards are selected for All-Star reserves — meaning there are four potential spots for guards on the East roster. With Lowry and Dwyane Wade already locked in, Walker will likely find himself in competition with Wall, Thomas, Jackson, Chicago star Jimmy Butler (presumed lock), Toronto's DeMar DeRozan, Milwaukee's Khris Middleton for those final spots.
That's a star-studded cast, but for the first time in his career Walker's numbers stack up with top-tier company.
