After seeing this year’s reserves, who have been some of the biggest snubs from the All-Star game in Charlotte Hornets franchise history?
On Tuesday Night the reserves for the 2018 All-Star teams were announced. We already knew who the starters would be, but many Charlotte Hornets fans were awaiting the announcement of the reserves anxiously.
After making his debut in the All-Star game last year, many of us were waiting in suspense to hear Kemba Walker’s name called. As a matter of fact, Kemba wasn’t the only name we were hoping to hear. Dwight Howard hadn’t made an All-Star team since 2013-2014 and has had a much improved year compared to last year.
As names continued to be called, we were all met with the realization that nobody would be representing the team at All-Star weekend. Despite his improved year, Dwight was never a real possibility. Embiid was the starting center so that generally leaves one spot left on the reserves for a center. Horford got the nod, but many people feel that Andre Drummond got snubbed. Either way, both have been a little bit better than Dwight and have had more team success. It would’ve been nice to see Dwight make it, but there were just too many other centers.
So, in the end, it’s not completely realistic to say Dwight was snubbed, but let’s take a look at some of the biggest ASG snubs in franchise history.
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Honorable Mention- Kemba Walker 2017-2018
Stats: 21.8 PPG, 5.9 APG, 1.2 SPG, 2.1 TOPG, 34.4 3P%, 42 FG%
Who Got in Over Him? John Wall and Kyle Lowry
I purposely didn’t mention Kemba as much in the above paragraphs with Dwight. Kemba actually was snubbed and there’s a legitimate case to make for it.
The main reason that I have this as an honorable mention and not in the Top 5 is that his stats just aren’t as good as last year. The biggest factor that plays into this is his effectiveness from beyond the arc. After shooting 40% from three last season that has dropped to just 34.4% this season.
The team success wasn’t really there either season, but the stats were better all in all last season.
When I look at Wall’s and Lowry’s stats, though, they don’t seem all that much better than Kemba’s. Kemba averages more points than each, but each average more rebounds and assists.
It’s seemed like Lowry’s had a quiet year because of the improved DeRozan, but the team success surely helped his case. Wall, on the other hand, hasn’t been on a great team and turns the ball over a lot more.
You couldn’t really go wrong with any of these three, but there are legitimate arguments to be made for Kemba over either.