A crazy thing happened on the way to Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker’s repeat appearance in the All-Star Game: His teammate took his spot.
Phoenix Suns fans ran quickly through the 12 stages of grief on Tuesday when the NBA All-Star reserves were leaked: Chris Paul is in; Devin Booker is not.
After Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted out the reserves, the social media assault began.
And then the official announcement came on TNT’s NBA pregame show.
So, Chris Paul is more responsible than Booker for the Suns’ dramatic turnaround? Well, maybe there’s some truth to that, and if “winning team” is a major determinant then maybe Paul is (narrowly) the better choice.
But this is an All-Star Game, and Devin Booker is an All-Star.
Are you disagreeing? So, you’re calling LeBron ignorant?
Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in our league!!! Simple as that.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 24, 2021
Fans held out hope that Booker would still make the team as an injury replacement for the Lakers’ Anthony Davis.
Side question: Is Anthony Davis even having a season worthy of a spot on the All-Star roster?
The league knows Booker deserves it. The vote for All-Star starters showed peer approval much higher for Booker than the fans and media votes.
This, apparently, is something Booker will have to digest and just deal with in the coming few days.
Would he be OK as an injury replacement? This will be interesting.
On the TNT show, Dwyane Wade said he’d take Paul over Booker, citing the “culture that he’s brought there” but didn’t Booker lead the team an 8-0 bubble appearance?
And what about Paul and Booker over Zion Williamson? Clearly, there’s no way Zion doesn’t make it. Primarily for his popularity, though, because he’s not exactly carrying his team to victories these days.
Is it an obvious snub, or did Booker’s slow start and relatively poor comparative metrics cost him?
Responses welcomed in the comments section below.