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Another day another lightweight Charles Barkley headed for Steph Curry and the Warriors.
Moments after Curry was named in his seventh NBA All-Star Game on Thursday, Barkley argued for the two guards who should have been selected as Western Conference starters over the Warriors star and the Dallas Mavericks phenomenon, Luka Doncic.
“There is no right or wrong answer, but I thought [Damian] Lillard and Donovan Mitchell, to me, (should have been All-Star starters), “Barkley said on TNT’s pre-game show before the Toronto Raptors attacked the Milwaukee Bucks.” When you have the best basketball record, it says a lot. They have these stupid arguments as to who gets the MVP each year. The MVP never went to the best player. It was always about who was the best player on the best team. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal should have won three or four, but the other guys have played better this season.
“Donovan Mitchell should be rewarded, in my opinion. No disrespect to anyone. But this kid was the best player on the best team in the NBA and it’s a shame he didn’t start.”
There is no disagreement with Barkley that Lillard and Mitchell are having amazing seasons and that their respective teams, the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz, are playing better than the Warriors and Mavericks at the moment. Utah has the best overall record (24-5) in the NBA until Thursday. Portland has won six in a row and sits fourth in the West with an 18-10 record.
The Warriors (16-13) are three games out of .500 for the first time this season, and the Mavericks have underperformed to a 13-15 record, good for 10th in the West.
But the All-Star Game is not a reward for the success of the team. It’s about who the fans want to see and which players have the best statistical seasons.
To that end, Curry is currently one of the most popular players in the NBA and his numbers are better than those of Lillard, Mitchell and Doncic. In fact, there are few, if any, players who are posting better numbers than Curry this year.
Comparing Curry, Doncic, Lillard and Mitchell this season, the two-time NBA MVP leads all four players in field goal percentage, 3 point percentage, actual field goal percentage, free throw percentage, interceptions per game and points per game.
Of the four players, Curry trails Doncic in rebounds per game and is third behind Doncic and Lillard in assists per game.
Statistically speaking, Curry is enjoying the best season of the Western Conference’s four guards. He’s averaging 30.0 points on 49.2% shooting from the field and 42.5% shooting from 3-point range.
But more than stats, the biggest determinant of All-Star Game starters is the fan vote (50% of formula), and Curry beat all the other Guards in the West, finishing with 5,481,033 votes. Doncic finished far second with 3,335,042 votes.
Curry also finished first in voting among players and voting through members of the media, with each component accounting for 25% of the final results.
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So while Barkley might want to reward Lillard and Mitchell for the team’s success, fans, players and the media disagree with him.
Curry was rightly chosen as the All-Star Game starter for the seventh time in his career.
Sorry, Chuck, but you’re still on the wrong side of this argument.
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