Earlier this week, the NBA announced 10 matches for the 2021 All-Star Game, which is scheduled to take place on March 7 in Atlanta. As always, there was a lot of debate about whether the right players were selected – particularly with regard to the Western Conference’s backcourt.
The two guards who received the nod were Steph Curry and Luka Doncic, although many believe that Damian Lillard deserved a place. And in fact, it almost did. Doncic and Lillard were tied after the entire voting process, which includes the opinion of fans, media and players, and the Mavericks star only started because he won the tiebreaker based on fan voting.
Now, a few days later, Doncic has assessed the situation. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Doncic admitted that he was surprised to be named and thought that Lillard may have been the most deserving choice.
“I didn’t expect to start this game”, Doncic said. “I know that maybe [Damian] Lillard deserved more than I did. “
It was a nice thing for Doncic to say, but he doesn’t really need to apologize. He had no say in the process and is putting on an absolutely brilliant season. In 29 games, he averaged 29.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.4 assists. He is fifth in the league in goals, third in assists and has the best career marks in both categories. If that doesn’t deserve to start the All-Star game, then what is it?
Unfortunately, it is just a difficult situation where there are more deserving candidates than there are vacancies available. Lillard himself is getting 29.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists every night, and has the Trail Blazers in fourth place at the Western Conference. This certainly deserves an initial seat, but only two players can receive this honor, which is why there is a voting process to make the final determination. This time, it just wasn’t Lillard’s way.
The good news for the Blazers star is that he will definitely be in the game, and in the long run, no one remembers whether you started, just whether you were there or not. And he will be there.