The Western Conference starter pool for next month’s NBA All-Star Game included a big surprise.
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was chosen along with Lakers forward LeBron James and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic among Western Conference frontcourt candidates. Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was also named a starter for the first time, joining Warriors guard Stephen Curry as the backcourt duo in the starter pool, NBA Communications tweets.
James will be a team captain once again because he is the All-Star starter from the West with the most fan votes in the West.
Wiggins was third in the most recent fan voting results among Western Conference frontcourt players but the fan vote counted for only 50% in the selection. Player voting accounted for 25% and the media also had a 25% say.
Wiggins is averaging 18.1 PPG. He beat out more decorated Western Conference frontcourt players such as Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, Deandre Ayton, Karl-Anthony Towns and Draymond Green.
Morant’s selection is much less controversial. He’s averaging 25.8 PPG, 6.9 APG and 5.9 RPG. However, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell and Suns guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul also had compelling cases to be starters.
So much LOLS on Wiggins as an all star starter!
He was supposed to end his career with over 20k points and no appearances as an all star…
Even as a warrior fan I would not pick Wiggins as a starting all star. He is a good solid player but there are more deserving players. Towns to me should have got the spot. Ayton and Gobert also could have been above him but that is how voting goes. I know K-pop singer told his fans to vote for Wiggins.
Why wouldn’t you pick Wiggins, as a Warrior fan? One of the better two-way forwards in the league this season
He is a good player but sometimes he doesn’t have that extra effort most all stars have. Sometimes he disappears in games. He is a all star when he is aggressive to the rim. I just feel there are a few other players in the league better than him.
I feel it.. considering a few routine all stars are injured/not on good teams, the stars aligned in some way. Do you think he makes the team, even if he doesn’t start?
Lol
The Wiggins thing is the reason I haven’t watched an all-star game for around 20 years. For reference I watch 4-5 games a week, All star games are for scrubs.
Apparently you haven’t watched any Warriors games…
Wiggins has had somewhat of a career renaissance on the Warriors, but he’s not an All Star, let alone a starter. Egregious homerism right here.
What do you consider an all star player? Is it all stats in your eyes? I’m definitely a warriors fan, but I watch every game intently and critically. As I do when I watch any NBA game. So I’m wondering what defines an all star, who do you think should start over him?
*crickets*…
I’d trade Wiggins now. I want to trade all-star starter.
His value is all time high. He has only $65 million contract remaining. If you deduct the games he plays this season, he has only $48 million contract remaining.
Trade him for what? He plays an important role for them.
Wiggins/moody for John Collins, Wright and A First via third team
Wiggins/Moody/2022 First for Sabonis and LeVert
#1 Why the f would you trade an all star starter, who is a key part of your team and a first round pick for pretty much no reason?
#2 why would you trade an all star starter who is a key part of your team, with a guy you just drafted in the first round, and another first, for an injury prone expensive player and a guy who’s not a franchise player, yet is getting paid 19 mil for the next few years? Give your head a shake Silly man.
76ers original asking price for Ben Simmons (6 players)
Wiggins – all star starter
Wiseman
Kuminga
Moody
two future first round picks
Is this Simmons trade value?
Simmons = Wiggins + 5 teenagers
Ha ha ha. Kuminga will be a huge star in the league in a few years. He is untouchable by the warriors.
Dude shouldn’t even be on the team let alone start….joke
Good joke
Wiggins is deserving of an all star nod, but not starting over Gobert.
Wiggins shouldn’t even be an All Star let alone a starter. I can rattle off 15 more deserving players off the top of my head.
Who got snubbed?
Who do you think should start over Wiggins and make the team instead of him
I don’t even like Goberts game, but he should be starting. Towns over Wiggins too.
The one year Wiggins is a positive on DBPM. Makes you wonder why it took so long for him to put in effort and round his game.
Why Gobert over Wiggins? KAT has numbers but Wiggins is the second leading scorer on the team with the second best record. If they did position less voting then give it to CP or Book.
FC for the West is a little shallow this season. I could see Gobert not getting votes bc he’s a center like Jokic (even tho it doesn’t matter). Davis and George haven’t played enough.
Towns is an obvious snub here. Also IDK if putting Luka as a SF was an option but if it was he’s the other obvious snub as well.
But maybe the most obvious snub of all is the other Warrior FC player who’s clearly better than Wiggins—Draymond.
My first reaction as well. No longer the Duncan Dirk monopoly in the west which made it nearly impossible for any big to ever snag a start
Rudy AD Ayton are sus to even be on the team mostly based on health. JJJr deserves a spot, hell Id put Wood on there before AD
Luka, Towns, or Booker should be starting in place of Wiggins. I know Luka was hurt to start the year, but he’s been on a tear on one of the hottest teams in BB over the last 15. I used to love All Star Weekend but this isn’t very intriguing.
Luka and Booker are guards. Only two spaces give to guards
Towns does not have enough wins
If they did position-less voting, the sure.. but the frontcourt opened up with AD, PG injuries and Wiggs been having a great season so far on a great team so why not
Love ya, Ja!
-Memphis
Warriors fans are idiots. This is almost as bad as when they tried to vote Zaza Pachulia into the ASG
50% came from players and coaches lols!
Whoa whoa whoa strong language buddy.
Most Warriors fans don’t take too kindly to that kind of a moniker let alone any fan of any team.
But I get it, I’ll give you a little
grace. People like you were usually pretty rattled by their dads growing up.. couldn’t do anything right etc. etc.
I was one of those kids, but I’m not out there calling people idiots whom I don’t agree with what they do. Hope you get over it.
Wiggins has become a better player in GS. He plays both ways now. And can still put up 30 if he wants to. His voting has more to do with Canada imo. Good for him.
Canadians probably hate the hate he gets… after all the main flaw in Wiggins’ game is that he’s too polite, and politesse may be required by law there!
—–
The campaigns of Towns & Gobert are likely hurt by Jokic being the obvious center choice… but center is not a category in this election… Gobert is so key to the Jazz, still.
Bas.Ref. lists Gobert as 2x allstar and 4x allNBA and I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for that.
Wigs as an All-Star, never mind a starter is the most ludicrous, outrageous & preposterous decision like ever.
Dude ain’t even close to a top 50 player in the league this year!
WC starters should have been…
D-Murray, Luka, LBJ, Jokic & Gobert.
In no particular order here is a list of front court players more deserving than Wigs to be All-Star this year…
KP6, JV, Gobert, KAT, AD, Dray, Ayton & PG13… if healthy Zion, Kawhi & MPJ also would have been ahead of him of course!
Yeah according to you Ben Simmons should be starting!
I don’t think people should be upset this much by the results of a fan vote. We’ve seen worse things in an All-Star game than Wiggins, a legit second/third best player of a top team in the league, starting.
Things like this happen in injury-ravaged/transitional seasons like this current one. During Jordan’s first retirement in 1994 and 1995, people like BJ Armstrong, Tyrone Hill or Dana Barros were All-Stars.
Also, I believe in the 2000/01 season, fans voted in both an injured Grant Hill and Alonzo Mourning as starters in the East, even though both were out for the season with injuries. The league ended up replacing them with the likes of Antonio Davis and Anthony Mason, and IIRC one or both actually started in the actual All-Star game.
Now, if this year, the fans voted in an injured Kawhi or Zion to start and it was the league wich replaced them on the team with Wiggins, would there be this much of an upheaval? No, I don’t think so, it’s not even close.
Can we take a moment to appreciate Wiggs and not S*** all over him? I’m not a Dubs fan but I’m a basketball fan, and I think its really cool he’s found his spot on the Warriors and is making it work. Go Wiggins!
These people don’t know how to watch the game, nor understand it, so that’s why you get such outlandish reactions
Who is not getting it? Your understanding is limited to counting stats and superficial foundations, like Sillivan considering only FG%. Also, some GSW fans build up Wiggins to make him more tradable— they do not want him either!
GSW execs were never thrilled with getting him, just in so-called beating the system getting him, which gave them no gain until this year when there are other newer attractions.
Hmm interesting you say my understanding of the game is only limited to statistics, when your comment below only uses statistics to support your case.
Wiggins has been integral to the Warriors defense this season – guarding other teams best players, he’s been comprehensive of the Warriors defensive schemes. He rarely gets beat off the dribble, is always in the right place on rotations, moves his feet well and stays in front of his man.
On offense his efficiency has been great. He’s not KD, he’s no Paul George, he won’t take over games as often as those guys, but he’s been more than reliable and consistent. He’s the second leading scorer on the team with the second best record.
You can argue Draymond should be a starter, but what gripe for Gobert over Wiggins.. purely statistical when it comes to rebounding and blocks.
But when Gobert plays the Warriors he’s neutralized. Barely makes an impact other than rebounds. So does he desrve to start more than Wiggins? Who knows, it’s a toss up anyway. The West front-court is seemingly weaker this year considering PG and AD have been out. AD hasn’t even played that well on a bad team, and you can argue KAT deserves to start but he’s also on a mediocre team.
These guys will be all stars nonetheless, which shows how great they are on crappy teams, but there’s a reason why some guys never get the all-star nod and some do.. usually because they’re on the better team that season.
SIMPLE stats (counting stats plus simple ratios) vs advanced stats. Some might call it empty stats vs all-around stats, and Wiggins (by reputation) is a leader in the former. In MIN his salary negotiations with owner Taylor were a joke, with Jimmy Butler the victim caught between them.
I saw a similar situation in Denver, with Micl.Porter as Wiggins and Jerami Grant as Butler, to compare.
The stats I used included all stats carried by Bas.Ref. that I have supported in all my posts. At no time will I use such as ppg if better stats are available (ppg is about shots taken). I noted when Wiggins improved. Any efficiency increase can probably be attributed to Kerr demanding it. To me, his flow seems bothered by harsh… not a fourth qtr guy. Little has changed from MIN days whenever I check it out; except Kerr is there with higher standards.
The Utah defense revolves around Gobert… several years ago Jazz coaches started telling perimeter defenders to let their marks go by when challenged, to not try to get in front if beat, but let Gobert handle it and get downcourt to counterattack. That is huge trust and is about more than just his doing his job.
I agree getting the toughest assignment does count IRL, but there is no stat for that; it is amazing that shortage still exists, for all the categories that get put forward by stat-hounds. Wiggins would get “points” for that. IDK in the end how good he is at it.
Neither is there a stat that separates crunch-time vs garbage-time numbers… One just has to assume that issue will balance out for a full-time player. Simple-stat fans do not like involving assumptions.
Agree, the W-L counts with most fans (like me) but GSW is WC third, so in theory they should get a second allstar… but so should UTA & MEM.
I am sure Wigs is proud of his simple stats; just not so much those advanced ones.
Career numbers:
PER 15 (exactly average)(with GSW 16.4),
ORtg-DRtg minus8 (ugh)(with GSW minus1),
on-off plus 1.8 (not horrible)(with GSW minus0.9)
BPM minus1.5 (ugh)(with GSW plus0.3).
SO he has been improving. Other numbers have been rising with the Warriors also: 3pt%, 2pt%, TS%, TRB%, and AST%, with 1pt%(FT%) as the only decline. (I do not follow USG&, WS or VORP.) Stats also suggest he is forcing the ball less, blocking more shots, playing better defense, and playing the 4 more (tho still rebounding like a 3).
Still, not really AS numbers, or an impact player like Dray.Green.