The NBA has announced that Suns guard Devin Booker will replace injured Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard in this weekend’s All-Star Game and 3-point contest. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 first reported (via Twitter) that Booker would be Lillard’s replacement for both events.
Booker, 23, was widely considered the most notable Western Conference snub when the 2020 All-Star reserves were revealed last month. He took the exclusion hard, publicly suggesting the picks were about entertainment, drama, and politics rather than rewarding the NBA’s best players. Now, after Lillard suffered a groin injury that will sideline him through the break and specifically endorsed Booker as his replacement, the Suns star will get a chance to play in his first All-Star Game.
In 52 games (35.9 MPG) this season, Booker has averaged 26.4 PPG, 6.3 APG, and 4.2 RPG with a shooting line of .496/.358/.920. Considering his scoring numbers are more impressive than those put up by several All-Stars, Booker presumably didn’t make the initial cut due to Phoenix’s poor record and his limitations on defense. Bradley Beal, the biggest snub in the Eastern Conference, was omitted from the list of All-Star reserves for similar reasons.
Beal was ineligible to step in for Lillard since the replacement had to come from the Western Conference, despite the fact that the All-Star Game won’t actually pit the East vs. the West. Booker will join LeBron James‘ team, since LeBron selected Lillard in last week’s All-Star draft.
Lillard had also been scheduled to put on a rap performance during Saturday night’s festivities in Chicago, but it’s safe to say Booker won’t be replacing Dame D.O.L.L.A on stage as well. Lillard still intends to perform, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Dang I called it….
Now try to step up your degree of difficulty.
Book deserved this, happy for him.
Equivalent of Andy Dalton making the Pro Bowl due to dropouts.
Booker is in the Top 10 in PPG average this year. He deserved to be in the ASG but was snubbed because his team sucks. That’s not his fault. Your comparison is a joke.
His comparison is a joke because Dalton had a winning record his first all star game. Who cares about winning when you can get buckets on a average team.
You’ll never have a league mvp from a losing team in this era… team record does matter even in individual stuff. That said, Booker still had a good argument. It worked itself out lol.
Good for him!
They get rid of AS bonuses for contract extensions yet? I like the All Team ones, bc I think more thought goes into that than fans voting the balding mustache ride into the AS game or an entire Eastern European country voting in a guy everyday.
I remember people used to think Chris Bosh was a good scorer on a bad team. Suddenly he joined Miami and it was like Oh what a heck of a player. One day the same will happen with Booker. He’s an all start imo.
It also helped playing alongside LeBron and D-Wade too.
Steph should be in, he’s shooting fine, he’s just not ready for the rigors of actual games yet.