Lowry Being Snubbed From All-Star Game Is A Pathetic Reality

I should have followed Zach Lowe’s lead and prepared this article earlier.

One Eastern Conference guard has a higher PER than Kyle Lowry, and that player (Wade) has missed 13 games. (Yes, I’m preparing my snub rant)

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) January 30, 2014

Despite being undoubtedly deserving, I knew deep down Kyle Lowry was not going to make the All-Star team. Because, there was absolutely no way they were going to let two Toronto Raptors players on the team.

Quote from NBA.com

“Based on his play over the last month, it would seem that Kyle Lowry has reason to cry injustice the loudest in an Eastern Conference that has not exactly been a Milky Way of stars. The guess is the coaches looked at the makeup of the overall roster and decided that it was hard to justify the Raptors getting a second star when the league leading Pacers could manage only two themselves.”

Apparently, Lowry was the runner-up after Joe Johnson in terms of votes. Additionally, a ‘snub’ poll was made with Lowry finishing at the top of the list for the East.

Fellow Raptor DeMar DeRozan absolutely deserved it, however Lowry deserved it more. Regardless, I think DeRozan is a better ‘All-Star game player’. He’s more exciting, a better scorer, more marketable, more well-known, and you won’t find anyone happier for the guy. However, we can talk about DD’s growth another time. 

So, where do I begin? Lowry has the second highest PER out of all Eastern Conference guards (behind Wade who sits half Miami’s games), highest wins added, and the highest value added. Those are raw stats for you – let’s get into some other arguments.

Lowry is 5th in the NBA in win shares, behind only Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Paul George. Take this in for a second – his 7.3 win shares this season beat out the starting East backcourt of Wade and Kyrie, who combine for 6.9. He’s also 5th league-wide in offensive rating. 

Since the Rudy Gay trade, he’s averaging (approximately) 19 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds while shooting around 45% from the field and 41% from three. He leads the league in charges, has taken leadership of this Raptors team which is now 3rd in the conference, and is the MOST UNDERRATED point guard in the NBA defensively. I can’t name a guard (aside from a prime Wade) that got selected in the East that is a better defender than Lowry.

Who do we have instead?

Kyrie Irving plays on an awful team, is a bonafide chucker who hasn’t led his team to squat, and can’t play any defense. He’s shooting around 42%, and the only real reason he’s averaging 21.5 PPG is because nobody else on the Cavaliers is very good. But he’s Uncle Drew…

John Wall was a no-brainer however I don’t think he deserved it over Lowry either. Washington is a worse team, Wall is shooting 42% from the field, is an average defender, and hasn’t really learned how to lead a team yet. But, his statline of 20-8 is pretty nice (actually, it’s nearly identical to Lowry’s post Gay trade), and he’s definitely got way ‘nastier’ handles.

Joe Johnson making the team is an absolutely pathetic decision by coaches. The Brooklyn Nets are below the Raptors in the standings, and Johnson is averaging 15.7 PPG and 2.8 APG. But… actually, I got nothing.

Joe Johnson over Kyle Lowry is a complete joke.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) January 31, 2014

The bottom line is that Lowry deserved to be an All-Star over all of the above, including DeRozan. I could make a case against Joakim Noah however they needed to bring in a certain number of big men. The positive behind this is Lowry’s contract negotiations will go a little easier now, and hopefully he will use the snub as fuel to power this team through the second half of the season.