Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker addresses NBA All-Star snub

SAN FRANCISCO – Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker sees his NBA All-Star snub a couple of ways.

“Obviously something I wanted to be a part of, but I’m definitely not going to complain about taking a week to regroup with the family,” Booker said after Friday’s morning shootaround at Chase Center before facing Golden State. “It’s always going to be a conversation every year, who got snubbed and who didn’t. There were a lot of people that were deserving.”

A four-time All-Star, Booker wasn’t selected for the Feb. 16 game at Chase Center despite being one of only two players in the Western Conference in the top 15 in the NBA in scoring and assists.

The other? Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

“Book is one of the great two guards in our league right now,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday. “What he’s done this season as a scorer, as a playmaker, as a leader.”

The NBA head coaches select the seven reserves for the Eastern and Western Conference. Booker is averaging 25.5 points and 6.7 assists in 41 games.

“He’s clearly in our minds an All-Star,” he added. “Hopefully the other coaches see and respect what he’s done this season. It’s never easy, but that guy, he’s one of the best players in our league. I don’t see how he’s not an All-Star.”

Booker said the Suns (24-22) “have bigger things to worry about” heading into and coming out of the All-Star break. Phoenix currently is ninth in the West.

“We’re figuring out playing the right way consistently and stacking some wins,” Booker said.

The NBA head coaches select two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards regardless of position for the seven All-Star reserves from each conference.

The seven West reserves consist of two guards in Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) and James Harden (LA Clippers) and five frontcourt players in Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets), Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) and Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder).

So, the coaches filled the two wildcard spots with frontcourt players.

“It’s just tough, man,” Booker said. “There are so many talented players in the league now. You could build a case for probably three or four guys on each side that have a legitimate case of being an All-Star.”

Suns All-Star Kevin Durant believes the rosters should have 15 players representing each conference.

“When I’m playing NBA2K, they give you the option,” Durant said about adding players to the All-Star team on the video game.

“I chose that every time. It should be 15 guys to a team. We have 15 on the roster,” he said, referring to NBA regular team rosters during the season. “It should be 15 guys, 30 guys that make the game, in my opinion. What is it, 12 now? I think we can add three more spots for each team. So many great players going out there impacting their team in a positive way that are being snubbed. They’ll always be snubs every year, but I think we should add three more.”  

Booker is open to that idea, saying Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young and Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball are deserving of All-Star recognition.

“I think there are enough talented guys out here, like I said, that are deserving,” Booker said. “You look at Kyrie, Norman Powell, those guys are having unbelievable, efficient years, and winning games. On the East, I’m sure there are guys too like Trae and LaMelo that are putting up just unheard numbers. The more talent in there, the better.”

Young took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to address his All-Star snub with a bit of humor.

“It’s no longer getting “snubbed” it’s getting “Traed” at this point😂,” Young posted. “Sorry to my fans.. it’ll change eventually! All right, talk soon!”

The fans, current players and a media panel chose the All-Star starters. The fans make up 50% of the vote, while the players and media each have 25% of the vote.

Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, Durant and Jokic were named the West starters.

Traditionally, the East All-Stars have battled the West All-Stars to complete the weekend celebration of the league. The All-Star game has recently lost its luster and has been criticized for lacking competitiveness as the teams are setting unreal scoring records.

The East won last year, 211-186, in Indianapolis, as Karl-Anthony Towns scored 50 points in 28 minutes. The East’s 211 points are the most scored by a winning team in the game’s 73-year history.

Jayson Tatum set the individual scoring record with 55 in the 2023 All-Star game in Salt Lake City.

The NBA decided to change the All-Star game format this year with a four-team mini-tournament in which TNT’s Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal will have a draft and select three eight-man teams from the 24 All-Stars. The Rising Stars champion from Friday will be the fourth team.

The change eliminates having the East facing the West.

That leads to the following question: Should the NBA just vote for 24 players, or more, regardless of conference, to get the best players in the All-Star game?

“That’s an idea,” said Booker with a laugh. “I’ll leave that up to the people that are controlling it. Whatever it does to get it back to how the All-Star game used to be and how people saw it at that moment and that weekend, anything to keep the business high.”

(This story has been updated to add or change a video.)

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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