NBA coaches are clearly impressed: Victor Wembanyama is one of the league’s top players.
The San Antonio Spurs star and reigning rookie of the year has earned his first All-Star selection, named one of the 14 reserve players for the event on February 16 in San Francisco.
Wembanyama is only the fourth Spurs player to make the All-Star Game in his first or second season. The other three are Alvin Robertson in 1986, David Robinson in 1990 and 1991, and Tim Duncan in 1998.
“It’s just a testament to his first year and a half in this league and the work he put in prior to that and trusting the process of trying to get incrementally better, not skipping steps,” acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said about Wembanyama last week in Paris when asked about his chances for the All-Star Game. “And then, obviously, that allows the talent and unique skill set to shine through.”
Coaches choose the reserve players, after the 10 starting spots were decided last week through fan voting (50%), media voting (25%), and player voting (25%).
On Thursday, seven players from each conference were picked. In the Eastern Conference: Jaylen Brown of Boston, Pascal Siakam of Indiana, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley from Cleveland, Cade Cunningham from Detroit, Damian Lillard from Milwaukee (the previous year’s All-Star MVP), and Tyler Herro from Miami.
From the Western Conference: Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards from Minnesota, Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, James Harden of the Los Angeles Clippers, Jaren Jackson Jr. of Memphis, Alperen Sengun from Houston, and Jalen Williams from Oklahoma City.
Wembanyama, Cunningham, Mobley, Herro, Sengun, and Williams are first-time All-Stars.
“It’s a great opportunity to be a part of,” Herro said.
The 10 starters picked last week were
Stephen Curry from Golden State, Kevin Durant from Phoenix, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers (his 21st All-Star selection), Nikola Jokic from Denver, Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns from New York, Donovan Mitchell from Cleveland, and Jayson Tatum from Boston.
Teams with multiple selections include Cleveland (3), the Lakers (2), Oklahoma City (2), Boston (2), Milwaukee (2), and New York (2). Golden State, Phoenix, Denver, Minnesota, the Clippers, Memphis, Houston, San Antonio, Detroit, Indiana, and Miami each have one selection.
Teams without an All-Star selection are Atlanta, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, Toronto, Utah, and Washington.
This year, there will be at least 15 players “starting” in the All-Star Game. The format is new, with three games. The 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams of eight players each by TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith.
The draft will be held on February 6.
The three teams will compete in a four-team tournament, with the fourth team made up of NBA rookies and second-year players from the Rising Stars event on All-Star Friday, February 14. The format includes two semifinal games, with the winners meeting in a championship game. The games will be quick; the first team to reach 40 points wins.
The league changed the format to make the games more competitive after last year’s All-Star Game set a record for the most points in a game, a 211-186 game full of 3-pointers and dunks.
“We went back to the drawing board,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “We had direct conversations with many of the players, many of the perennial All-Stars, to talk about what it is that we could put together from a competitive standpoint. I’m optimistic this year that we landed on a formula that will work.”
Oklahoma City’s coach Mark Daigneault and one of his assistants will coach two of the teams, while Cleveland’s coach Kenny Atkinson and one of his assistants will lead the others.
Some big names who didn’t make the cut are Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, who missed out on being a starter and didn’t get enough support from coaches to be a reserve, along with Atlanta’s Trae Young, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox, Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, and Luka Doncic (who has played only 22 games). The Clippers’ Norman Powell also missed out.
Ball is fourth in the NBA with 28.2 points per game, plus 7.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds. If he continues at this pace, he could be the first player in NBA history not to make the All-Star Game despite those numbers. Doncic, who has played enough games to qualify if not for injuries, is fifth in scoring at 28.1 points per game, along with 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists.
It’s possible that one or both players could be named injury replacements by Silver if necessary.
