The NBA All-Star game is coming up on February 17th and the full list of all-stars have been announced. The conversation now is who got snubbed and who got in who shouldn’t have. I created an algorithm to rank players based on common stats that I think people believe makes an All-Star. My algorithm assigns 3 points for every made 3-pointer, 2 points for every 2-pointer, 1 point for every free throw made, rebound, assist, block and steal. I also assigned -1 for every missed shot and turnover.
For the following tables:
| Dark Red | All-Star Starter from Western Conference |
| Light Red | All-Star Reserve from Western Conference |
| Dark Blue | All-Star Starter from Eastern Conference |
| Light Blue | All-Star Reserve from Eastern Conference |
| White | Non All-Star |
First let’s look at the guards:
What we can see is there are definitely players who by my system deserve to be All-Stars who are not. We see Klay Thompson way down on the list. D’Angelo Russell and Victor Oladipo are actually pretty far down on the list too. A case could be made for any of the guys above them like Jrue Holiday, DeMar DeRozan or Devin Booker. A lot of people also thought Donovan Mitchell got snubbed, but I would say he wasn’t good enough to be an All-Star.
As for small forwards, Jimmy Butler has a case to be an All-Star over Khris Middleton, but it isn’t clear cut that one or the other was that much better. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were the two standouts.
At the power forward position I don’t have any arguments. The right players are in the All-Star game.
Lastly, we have the centers, where I think there were more deserving players than Lamarcus Aldridge. Clint Capela and Rudy Gobert both appear above Aldridge on my list. However, Aldridge averages 3-5 more points per game than both of Capela and Gobert. Aldridge does not have the rebounding numbers of Capela and Gobert, but was likely selected as an All-Star because of his scoring. I do think Anthony Davis should be starting over Kevin Durant. Davis has 37.4 total per game and Durant just 29.2. Davis actually has the highest total out of all NBA players!
Obviously, everything I’m going off here is statistically based. I’m not adding in who has a bigger name or how good the player’s team is and that probably does have an effect on some of the selections. I also didn’t mention Dwyane Wade or Dirk Nowitzki being on the rosters. We know they aren’t having good enough seasons to actually be All-Stars, but it’s a nice gesture and the fans love them. If there’s anything I can conclude, it’s that Klay Thompson probably shouldn’t be and All-Star, Anthony Davis should be and All-Star starter and Jrue Holiday and DeMar DeRozen have the best case for being snubs. Clint Capela and Rudy Gobert have cases as snubs too.