On Thursday, the NBA revealed the reserves for the 2022 All-Star Game that is being played in Cleveland on Feb. 20. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was selected as a starter and a captain for the fifth consecutive year, but for the first time, he will not have Anthony Davis available to join him.
For the first time since his rookie year, Davis was not selected to be an All-Star starter or a reserve, meaning he will miss the game entirely unless selected as a replacement. Davis has been absolutely dominant since returning from an MCL sprain, but the time he missed due to that injury was simply too much to overcome.
While Lakers fans may be upset to only see one player from their team on All-Star Weekend, Davis completely understands why he was not selected.
“I kind of figured I wasn’t [gonna make it] with the amount of games I missed,” Davis said. “It’s the first time since my rookie year, actually I went to the All-Star my rookie year for the rookie team, so this is the first time in my career where I don’t have to go to All-Star.
“So I know my wife is ecstatic, don’t have to spend time being at All-Star and can be somewhere else. But congrats to all those guys, especially the Klutch guys, obviously Darius [Garland] on his first selection and I think Zach [LaVine] it was his second. But I’ll have more opportunities I’m sure to be in there.”
Davis has only played in 32 of the Lakers’ 53 games, and he certainly wasn’t his usual self in most of the 27 games he played before suffering a knee injury. Making the All-Star Game was a long shot, especially with how many players made compelling cases.
The seven reserves selected from the Western Conference were Phoenix Suns guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and big man Rudy Gobert, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns.
Green has already stated he will not be able to play due to an injury, meaning Commissioner Adam Silver must appoint a replacement. Given all the reasons listed above, it’s unlikely Davis serves as that replacement.
Instead, Davis is going to get a full eight days off in between games, as L.A. does not take the court from Feb. 16 all the way to Feb. 25. This will be much-needed rest after all the heavy lifting Davis has had to do in the absence of James.
Full pre-draft All-Star rosters
James and Kevin Durant will be selecting their teams on Feb. 10, and they’ll have the following player pool to pick from. The Western Conference starters are Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, and Andrew Wiggins, while Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, and Trae Young round out the East Starters.
The West reserve pool is listed above, with Paul, Booker, Green, Mitchell, Gobert, Doncic, and Towns making the cut, although a replacement will be selected for Green. Meanwhile, the East reserve pool includes Jimmy Butler, Darius Garland, James Harden, Zach LaVine, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum, and Fred VanVleet.
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