Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are among the Western Conference All-Star reserves, according to the the official announcement.
They’ll be joined by Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, and James Harden of the Houston Rockets.
Notable snubs include Aldridge’s teammate Damian Lillard.
Durant’s inclusion is a surprise because he’s missed 25 games, and the Thunder are still not in the top eight in the West.
Here are the #NBAAllStarNYC West Reserves: pic.twitter.com/spQ8PXloDG
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 30, 2015
“Damian Lillard and DeMarcus Cousins have played well enough in the games they’ve played to make the teams,” said TNT analyst Kenny Smith. Charles Barkley said that Durant doesn’t deserve a spot.
“Its crazy he didn’t get in,”Aldridge told Yahoo about Lillard. “He’s played great for us all season & has been one of the reasons for our success”
Mike Conley and Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies are among the other notable exclusions, along with Monta Ellis of the Dallas Mavericks, the best team (30-17) without an All-Star.
Best team w/o an All-Star: Mavericks (30-17). Monta Ellis: 20.5 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.7 spg, 46.1% from field.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) January 30, 2015
No mention of Z-Bo by TNT guys in West debate despite Z-Bo’s stats (17.1 ppg, 11.9 rpg) and team record being better than Duncan & Howard
— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBeat) January 30, 2015
The starters were announced last week. In the West, that would be Stephen Curry of the Warriors, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, and Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Because of Bryant’s recent season-ending injury, he will be replaced by a player chosen by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings or Lillard will likely replace Bryant in the starting lineup.
