Despite one of the NBA's biggest stories being his averaging of a triple double through the season thus far, the 2017 All-Star game's starting lineups were announced on Thursday, January 19, and Russell Westbrook didn't make the cut.
Thanks to Westbrook's 30.6 points, 10.4 assists and 10.6 rebounds per game, the 25-19 Thunder remain in playoff contention in the league's Western Conference. He came into the season co-signed by some of the game's most credible analysts and retirees as one of, if not the, most explosive players in the league, and as the season has progressed there has even been talk of him being among the early favorites for MVP. However, the West is packed with phenomenal talent, and thus the selections of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis to start on February 19 in New Orleans seems difficult to argue.
Each starter is determined by matriculating 50% of the fan vote, 25% of the media vote and 25% of the vote of the players' peers around the league. Westbrook was reported to have finished tied with Curry and Harden when the media and players votes were totaled up, but fell behind his rivals with the fan vote acting as a tiebreaker.
Source: espn.com
