Former NBA head coach Brian Shaw on Wednesday expressed his happiness to see several players earn first-time All-Star selections this week when the full rosters were unveiled for the annual showcase game.
Shaw, who is now coaching the NBA G League Ignite, singled out players like Zach LaVine, Jaylen Brown and Julius Randle, who he coached for two seasons as an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers, for making the All-Star Game, which will be played on March 7 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Zion Williamson also earned his first All-Star selection this year.
“I was happy for some of the first time All-Stars in Zach LaVine, Julius Randle,” Shaw said. “He was a player that I coached in L.A. He has gotten better and better every year. I thought that maybe Damian Lillard should have gotten a starting nod. (I’m also happy for) Jaylen Brown, a guy that played at Cal, who I’m familiar with in the Bay area. For him to get an All-Star nod, I thought that maybe he should have gotten one last year.”
The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the seven reserve players from each conference to make the All-Star Game. Of course, the announcement of the reserve players each year sparks the conversation on which individuals were snubbed, and this year proved to be no different.
Players like Devin Booker, Trae Young, Bam Adebayo and Mike Conley Jr. were among those not named to the initial roster. However, Booker has since been selected by NBA commissioner Adam Silver as an injury replacement for Anthony Davis.
Shaw offered one way to solve the problem of snubbing players from the game.
“In those situations, it’s tough to pick,” Shaw said. “I think that everybody that made it was deserving. It’s hard to see Devin Booker getting left off. I think that maybe one thing that they ought to do is maybe expand the All-Star roster because there are so many guys that are deserving. If you can have 15 guys on an NBA roster, then there should be 15 guys on the All-Star roster as well.”
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For years now, the 30 NBA coaches, who are tasked with selecting the reserve players, have long begged to have the All-Star rosters expanded from 12 to 14 or 15 spots. Each year, there is seemingly always at least one deserving player or two left out of the game, but coaches try to make the judgment based on their research.
In the end, though, there will always be at least one player left out.
“There have been times I didn’t vote for a guy and after the fact, I felt like I wish there were more slots so I could vote for him,” Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams said. “That affects their livelihood. It affects their bonuses. It affects their standing. It affects their legacy. As a former player, I understand that. I want to be as fair as I can.”
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