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This Week In Nets: Brook Lopez's All-Star Snub Derails The Nets' Hot Streak

Derek Evers

Published Jan 28, 2013

Modified Jan 28, 2013

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Derek Evers

Published Jan 28, 2013

Modified Jan 28, 2013

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Just when it appeared nothing could slow down the Brooklyn Nets, they were slapped with the worst All-Star snub since 1978.

Brook Lopez's worth to the Nets was on display in December when he sat out two weeks with a foot injury, only to see his team go 2-5 in his absence (potentially costing Avery Johnson his job). Since his return they had gone 14-7 prior to Thursday's announcement of the All-Star reserves, including Monday's 88-85 win over the Knicks and Wednesday's 91-83 victory in Minnesota. But following the selections of Joakim Noah, Chris Bosh, Tyson Chandler, Paul George, and Luol Deng instead of Lopez, the Nets stumbled in lopsided losses to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, 77-101, and Jeremy Lin's Houston Rockets on Saturday, 106-119, as experts pondered just how big of a snub it was to leave the Nets center off the All-Star roster.

Statistically speaking, Brook Lopez missing out on the All-Star game might be the most egregious oversight of the 2013 NBA season—and arguably of all time. Lopez dominates the six men who were selected ahead of him in nearly every category (check below for the full statistical breakdown!), and his 25.42 Player Efficiency Rating in 2013 only trails All-Star starters LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. Chris Bosh at 21.06 is the closest of those selected ahead of him. Assists and turnovers aside, the only category he trails any of his competitors is in rebounds—though neither Tyson Chandler nor Joakim Noah have to share the glass with Reggie Evans, Andray Blatche and Kris Humphries, who average a combined 21.3 boards per game.

Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney did an amazing job laying out the argument; the last player to have as good of a statistical season and not be selected to an All-Star team was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1978, but Abdul-Jabaar missed 20 games with a broken hand after punching Kent Benson, so it could be argued the punch / injury was the reason Kareem was left off.

To illustrate the point even further (pun intended), Lopez's statistical combination of 22.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per 36 minutes has only been reached by nine players in NBA history: Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Robert Parish, Bob McAdoo and Ralph Sampson. Each one of those men were All-Stars.

The only argument I can come up with for leaving the Eastern Conference's best center off of the All-Star roster, is that it embraces a liberal definition of what "All-Stars" are. The NBA All-Star reserves were announced as the usual rumblings of the NFL's Pro Bowl legitimacy raged on heading into last night's game in Hawaii. Yet it should be noted that without the specter of a fan-driven marketing agenda, the NFL gets its selections correct. The Pro Bowl is truly a battle of the best, despite how boring or unwatchable that battle may be. The NBA however, like MLB and NHL, relies on fan and coaches voting, which turns the game into one-part popularity contest and one-part position match-up. And in a game without centers, Lopez's position became expendable so coaches could presumably work in small forwards Paul George and Luol Deng's three assists per game.

The Nets now face the task of trying to become the first team in NBA history to win a championship without an All-Star. And it begins with four straight home games against the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. At least we'll get to see how Lopez matches up with three of the men who were chosen ahead him.

2013 Season Stats of Brook Lopez and the six All-Star forwards:

Player Efficiency Rating
Lopez: 25.42
Kevin Garnett: 18.49
Joakim Noah: 17.3
Chris Bosh: 21.06
Tyson Chandler: 20.87
Paul George: 17.40
Luol Deng: 15.26

Points per game
Lopez: 18.6
Kevin Garnett: 14.7
Joakim Noah: 12.1
Chris Bosh: 17.2
Tyson Chandler: 11.9
Paul George: 17.4
Luol Deng: 17.4

Rebounds per game
Lopez: 7.3
Kevin Garnett: 7.2
Joakim Noah: 11.1
Chris Bosh: 7.2
Tyson Chandler: 10.9
Paul George: 3.7
Luol Deng: 6.4

Blocks per game
Lopez: 2.2
Kevin Garnett: 0.9
Joakim Noah: 2.1
Chris Bosh: 1.4
Tyson Chandler: 1.0
Paul George: 0.7
Luol Deng: 0.3

Assists per game
Lopez: 0.8
Kevin Garnett: 2.1
Joakim Noah: 4.1
Chris Bosh: 1.7
Tyson Chandler: 0.9
Paul George: 3.7
Luol Deng: 3.0

Turnovers per game
Lopez: 1.8
Kevin Garnett: 1.7
Joakim Noah: 2.8
Chris Bosh: 1.8
Tyson Chandler: 1.3
Paul George: 2.8
Luol Deng: 2.2

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