MUST READ: My 2019 All-Star Picks

*I wrote this on Jan 22

Voting for all star starters ended yesterday and they’ll be announced on january 24th so it’s time to make my picks. The official reserves will be announced a week later so I’ll do the same. I combine individual and team performance but the majority of the emphasis will be on the individual aspect because the rosters consist of players, not teams. Sadly most of the media and fans in general don't use/understand this very fundamental aspect. That's why so many all-star/all-NBA (mainly referring to all-NBA) spots have been wasted for years on players who clearly have absolutely no business being on them.

For example, Klay Thompson is generally perceived as a better player than someone like Devin Booker. But basically nobody would say that Klay is better if he was playing on a mediocre/bad and therefore much less popular team, like Booker does. Devin can lead a team to at least playoff contention because he's good enough off the dribble/in isolation to create for himself and/or his teammates. Klay couldn't even dream of having that skill which is by far the most important/lethal skill. It isn’t Booker’s fault that his team is god awful so it makes no damn sense that people penalize guys like him by not at least considering putting them on all-star/all-NBA teams. Anyway, here are my picks:

West

Backcourt: Stephen Curry 

Backcourt: James Harden

Frontcourt: LeBron James 

Frontcourt: Kevin Durant

Frontcourt: Anthony Davis

East

Backcourt: Kemba Walker

Backcourt: Kyrie Irving 

Frontcourt: Kawhi Leonard

Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Frontcourt: Joel Embiid

Kemba and Bradley Beal are basically dead even in production but Beal has an all star caliber teammate in John Wall, who played 32 games, while none of Walker's teammates come even remotely close to being nearly as effective as Wall. So the fact that Charlotte has a better record than Washington is why Kemba gets the spot. The other spots are indisputable (in my opinion) but deciding the reserves will require much more thought (which I like) so there will be much more room for debate.

I’m announcing my reserves now because though the official ones are being released on January 31st, it makes no sense that the NBA would give extra playing time for the reserves because that isn’t fair. They’re being announced a week from today for suspense. Since I was so damn eager, I chose my reserves the day I chose my starters (I originally didn’t want to do this) so this is based on games played before January 22nd. I forgot to mention this on my last post: I also consider someone’s production with the remaining talent on his team. I put more emphasis on the previous sentence than team success. For example, although Giannis’ team has a much better record than Houston (which still has a winning record), Harden’s supporting cast has been laughably worse (a HUGE understatement) than Antetokounmpo’s. So even though both are having 2 of the greatest seasons in modern history (80s-present), Harden would get my vote for MVP if the season ended today. The Kemba-Beal comparison I made earlier is another example. Good news: I got 9 of the official starters right. Anyway, here are my picks:

West

Backcourt: Damian Lillard 

Backcourt: Russell Westbrook

Frontcourt: Paul George

Frontcourt: Nikola Jokic

Frontcourt: Karl-Anthony Towns

Wildcard: Donovan Mitchell

Wildcard: DeMar DeRozan  

East

Backcourt: Victor Oladipo* 

Backcourt: Bradley Beal

Frontcourt: Blake Griffin

Frontcourt: Andre Drummond

Frontcourt: Nikola Vucevic

Wildcard: D’Angelo Russell

Wildcard: Ben Simmons

*Jimmy Butler is a wildcard, making Russell take Oladipo’s spot as a backcourt reserve because of Victor’s injury. The backcourt and frontcourt spots in both conferences are indisputable (in my opinion). So are the east wildcards including Butler. Drummond has been really good but, more so than everyone else (including both conferences), he got picked largely due to the lack of frontcourt competition.

Although Philly is much better than Brooklyn (which still has a winning record), I originally put D’Angelo ahead of Jimmy because Russell has been the best Brooklyn Net while Butler has been the 3rd best Sixer. (However, I’d much rather have Jimmy over Ben Simmons. Do you see the difference between being a better player and having a superior season?).

I did consider Zach Lavine though Chicago’s record is very horrific. I don’t want to be a hypocrite because of what I said about Devin Booker earlier.

Westbrook is a star on an elite team, is the #1 rebounding point guard (ditto for assists), and averages north of 20 points per game. He has double digit rebounding and assist averages while leading the league in steals. All that softens the blow of his ghastly shooting %’s.

Donovan Mitchell’s spot isn’t debatable because of the lack of offensive talent around him which makes it that much more impressive that he’s leading a 26-22 team.

I considered LaMarcus Aldridge, Tobias Harris, De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Jrue Holiday, Julius Randle, Luka Doncic, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Devin Booker for my last west spot. But DeMar’s all around game (6+ assists and rebounds per game, 20+ points per contest) and the fact that he has a legit case for being the best player for the best team out of the teams of the players I listed in this paragraph, give him the edge. Glad I could be objective and still reward at least one guy from my favorite team.