All-Star reserves

The starters for this year’s edition of the Midseason Classic National Basketball Association All-Star Game were announced last week with little contention about their makeup as those selected were deserving of their spots.

Voted in by the fans were Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Paskal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors, and Kemba Walker of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference while in the Western Conference are LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, and James Harden of the Houston Rockets.

Antetokounmpo and James were the top vote-getters in their respective conferences with 5,902,286 and 6,275,459 votes.

With the starters for the All-Star Game in Chicago already settled, attention shifts to the reserves which the NBA coaches would vote and decide on, and whose names will be released later this week.

And like the previous years, this space would like to share its take on who should be the All-Star reserves.

In picking my selection, I pretty much reduced my criteria to two things — player stats and/or team’s winning record.

For the East, I have Jimmy Butler and Bam Adabayo of the Miami Heat, Jayson Tatum of the Celtics, Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers, Derrick Rose of the Detroit Pistons, Ben Simmons of the Sixers and Kyle Lowry of the Raptors as reserves in the All-Star Game happening on Feb. 16 (US time).

Butler has made the third-running Heat (31-14) an instant contender out in the East in his first year with the team. He has been all-around with averages of 20.3 points, seven rebounds and 6.5 assists apart from helping provide a solid identity for the team. Butler could easily have been a starter with the way he is playing, so naturally a reserve spot should be in his way.

Teammate Adabayo, too, has been balling to date, posting career numbers of 15.9 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 4.7 apg and 1.2 bpg. His solid play has allowed Miami to win games and keep in step with teams in the East which have quality big men, something the team was struggling to have in seasons past.

Sabonis (18.1 ppg and 12.8 rpg) has been a double-double machine for the Pacers (30-17) and has helped provide steadiness in Indiana’s attack with resident star Victor Oladipo still out because of injury.

The Pistons are poised for another losing season but one of the few bright lights for the team is the play of former NBA most valuable player Rose (18.8 ppg and 6 apg). Seemingly playing healthier these days, Rose has been fun to watch and to see him earn an All-Star spot anew after years of injury-filled seasons would be a narrative all its own.

Tatum (21.5 ppg and 6.9 rpg), for his part, has surely delivered for the recalibrating Celtics (30-15) along with Walker while Simmons (16.3 ppg, 8.4 apg and 7.9 rpg) and Lowry (20 ppg, 7.5 apg and 4.5 rpg) have been key in keeping their teams in the mix game in and game out.

Honorable mentions for me in the East are Nikola Vucevic (Orlando), Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn), Zach LaVine (Chicago), Jaylen Brown (Boston) and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee).

Over in the West I have the Utah Jazz duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Damian Lillard of the Portland TrailBlazers, Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Jazz (32-13) are a force in their conference thanks to Mitchell (24.7 ppg and 4.3 apg) and Gobert (15.7 ppg, 14.5 rpg and 2 bpg) serving as anchors. Utah, despite competing consistently in the previous years, had little success at being represented in the All-Star Game and it is about time it is recognized this year.

One of the best big men in the league, Jokic (19.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg and 6.5 apg), and the Nuggets (32-14), is humming anew and poised to continue posting problems to opposing teams moving forward.

With norms of 28.8 ppg, 7.7 apg and 4.2 apg, Lillard is an All-Star and it is going to be a pity if he is denied of a spot notwithstanding the Blazers are at struggling record of 20-27.

The same goes for Booker of the Suns (19-27) who is posting career norms of 27 ppg and 6.3 apg.

Veteran Paul (17.2 ppg, 6.4 apg and 5 rpg) has done wonders in his return to OKC. Not much was expected from the Thunder this season after choosing to rebuild. But on the lead of “CP3” they are fighting and making a strong case for the playoffs with a 28-19 record to date.

Ingram, for his part, has shown this season why he was integral in the Pelicans giving the go-ahead to the deal that sent away former face of the franchise Davis to the Lakers. The four-year player has been going for 25 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 4.3 apg so far for New Orleans (18-29), a solid candidate for most improved player.

Honorable mentions are Ja Morant (Memphis), LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio), Russell Westbrook and Clint Capela (Houston).

There you have it, my reserves. Not an easy selection process considering many were deserving of a spot. Who are yours?

Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld senior reporter covering the Sports beat.