Washington Wizards superstar wing Bradley Beal was considered by many to be the most notable omission from the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
Beal, 26, received All-Star honors the last couple of seasons and, after signing a massive contract extension October, is now scoring more than when he represented the Eastern Conference in 2019 (25.1 ppg) and 2018 (23.6 ppg) as well.
Considering that Beal is such a prolific scorer and the All-Star Game often rewards the players best at getting the ball in the bucket, it was a surprise to see that the former No. 3 overall pick was not included in the exhibition.
But when putting his 2019-20 season in context, it raises even more eyebrows for the decision. Beal, averaging a career-best 28.8 points per game, is scoring more than any other All-Star snub in NBA history.
This reality is what caused Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein to release a heated statement about the omission (via Washington Post):
“It’s unprecedented for a player to have the type of season that Brad is having to not be in the all-star game. And I think the Eastern Conference coaches, I think they’ve sent a horrible message. I think the Eastern Conference coaches have become robotic in thinking they just have to reward players that are on the winningest teams.”
Only three other qualified players who have averaged at least 28.0 points per game (World B. Free, Tiny Archibald and Purvis Short) were not selected to the All-Star Game. Similarly, the last time a player averaged at least 27.0 points per game in a season and did not make the All-Star Game was in 1984-85.
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