They Hate The…Sixers? Joel Embiid gets a spot as an All-Star reserve, Harden gets snubbed
Joel Embiid has been named an All-Star reserve for the Eastern Conference team while his teammate, James Harden, was shockingly left of the list, which was selected by NBA coaches.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Starters: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell
Reserves: Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Julius Randle, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Starters: LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Zion Williamson, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic
Reserves: Ja Morant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Damian Lillard, Jaren Jackson Jr., Domantas Sabonis, Lauri Markkanen, Paul George
Embiid is basically tied with Luka Doncic for the NBA scoring title at 33.5 points per game. He also averages 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game. As we know very well here in Philadelphia, Embiid’s impact on both ends the court should be considered one of, if not the best in the entire NBA.
Still, Embiid was snubbed from a starting sport in the All-Star game, but it was under safe assumption that he would be selected as a reserve. As for his teammate James Harden, apparently things were not as much as a “sure thing” to make the reserve roster.
Getting two players selected to the All-Star game is always a pretty hard task for a team to achieve unless you’re sitting atop the NBA standings. Harden specifically, also missed 14 games due to injury in November.
Still, on the season, Harden is averaging 21.4 points per game and 11 assists per game. He’s also been an All-Star for 10 straight seasons and just last year, made the NBA’s team for being one of the best 75 players in the history of the league.
Last night, Harden talked about the possibility of getting selected to the All-Star team for what would have been the 11th straight season.
“I’m not going to sit up here and say I should be an All-Star, make a case or none of that, but the numbers show it. Our seed shows it,” Harden said Wednesday. “It would be I think my 11th in a row, so obviously it’s always an honor. You never want to take none of that for granted. It means you’re doing something right and you’re making an impact on your team. … If my name is called, great. If not, we have bigger and better goals for the season.” – NBC Sports Philly
Me and James Harden are definitely on the same page. The Sixers have been good enough to have Embiid and Harden on the All-Star team. They currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference standings and since Harden returned from injury on December 5th, they have boasted a 21-6 record with the NBA’s third best offense and the ninth best defense. Harden also leads the league in assists per game at 11.0.
Now, maybe the snub will give Harden a little extra fuel to the fire for the second half of the season. At this point, we as fans will take anything we can get as long as it means that the Sixers are healthy come playoff time and advance to at least, the Eastern Conference finals.
