Damian Lillard, who handled All-Star slightly with the class, faced an uphill battle from the start: how timing, voice and perception worked against him

Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was sitting at home Thursday feeding his three children as the text and calls began pouring in, announcing he had not been selected as an appetizer from the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game.

While the news sent many Blazers fans and a few media members into a pet peeves, Lillard said he was not fascinating.

“I did not go right or left,” Lillard said. “I was just like ‘Oh.'”

The Lillard of the past might feel a little off. Respected. Added it to the list of injustices during his career which he often cites as motivation. But he is older now. Wiser.

“I was more aware of it at the time because I strived to earn that respect and get the nods, but now I think as I got older and dropped out of the league, my goal is different,” Lillard said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I don’t sweat it like with younger players. ”

Lillard finished third in the fans who voted for the West backfield, behind Golden State’s Stephen Curry, who is back to his MVP caliber, and Dallas’ Luka Doncic. It is a factual guarantee that Lillard will be selected by the coaches for his sixth All-Star Game, but he has never been named as an appetizer. What makes this situation so ‘controversial’ is that Lillard is second, behind Curry and ahead of Doncic, in the votes of NBA players and media members. But fan vote is worth 50%, while media and player vote is worth 25%. This left Doncic and Lillard tied at 50%, with the tiebreaker as fans.

It is clear that the voice of fans is quite subjective and that it has a lot to do with popularity, while one can hope that the voices of players and media have more to do with merit.

Lillard and Doncic are so close to each other that they need a dissection to decide who did better.

Lillard scored 29.8 points, 7.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds. Doncic sits on 29.1 points, 9.4 assists and 8.6 rebounds. Advantage, Doncic. However, the true shooting percentage of Lillard is at 62.5% compared to 58.6% for Doncic, who has the higher field goal percentage (47.5% to 45.1%), but a lower three-point shooting percentage (33.5% to 38.4%). Doncic is also more indifferent to basketball and has an average turnover of 4.2 compared to 3.1 for Lillard.

In terms of team success, Lillard and the Blazers hold a clear advantage. The Blazers are 18-10 and in fourth place in the Western Conference, while Dallas is in 10th place at 13-15. On top of that, Lillard has led the Blazers to this point with the team’s second-best player, guard CJ McCollum, and his third-best player, center Jusuf Nurkic, missing big pieces of the season due to injury.

Lillard’s relationship with the All-Star Game has definitely evolved.

Early in Lillard’s career, it was poignant whether he would be selected as even a reserve in a Western conference filled with All-Star caliber guards. He made the team in 2014, but was suspended in 2015, 2016 and 2017. However, he eventually joined the team in 2015 and 2017 as a replacement for injuries.

In 2017, Lillard is overshadowed by James Harden, Curry, Klay Thompson and Russell Westbrook. In 2016, it was Westbrook, Curry, Thompson, Harden and Chris Paul.

To his credit, Lillard continued to improve and in 2018, he made the team as a reserve and finished the season fourth in the MVP poll. In 2019, he made the team again and finished sixth in the MVP poll. Last year, he was also a clear choice.

It looked like Lillard would one day agree as an appetizer, and it seems more than ever the best opportunity so far.

Why? The changing landscape of the West. Harden is now in the East with Brooklyn. Westbrook plays for Washington in the East. Thompson is out for the season with an Achilles injury. Paul is still in the West, but at the age of 35, the ten-time All-Star is not the player he used to be.

Based on these developments, Lillard and Curry, averaging 30 points and 6 assists per game, appear to be the obvious choices. The fact that Doncic, who turns 22 on February 28, has become more than popular with Lillard, 30, is in many ways a disgrace. Lillard paid more than his money and achieved more in his career. On top of that, he is legally better in many ways. But Lillard said instead of being frustrated, he finds solace in the support he has received from the basketball community.

“I think every time you get the support of the people who really watch the game and who like the game, it’s a great feeling,” Lillard said. ‘All I do is improve every year I come back and try to be my best to give my team a chance to be their best. By doing so, I think it shows my performance and my improvement, and I think it also shows how people have grown insofar as they support my game and respect what I do. ”

Blazers coach Terry Stotts said that based on what Lillard has done this season, there is no doubt he should be an appetizer.

“Voice is what it is, and the voice of fans has always been part of the All-Star Game, and we take it for what it’s worth,” Stotts said. “But I think we all realize that Dame is currently the best points guard in the league and that he should have been an appetizer.”

Nevertheless, Stotts said the news did not shock him, given the early ground Lillard had to compensate in the vote. He said he and Lillard reckoned fairly well that this would be the result and that the disappointment was not like in the past when a coach Lillard simply would not choose.

As for Lillard, to hear him tell after Friday’s practice, he’s already moved on. And while he may have been robbed by the fans of the fans, he said he did not want the NBA to change its process.

“I do not want them to change the rule because I am not an appetizer,” he said.

Let’s take a closer look at how the mood went and why Lillard was in a bad position this season to be named starter over Doncic this season. Lillard was not so much bullied because he was the victim of bad timing and circumstances:

1. Fan polls have always been a popularity contest: The All-Star Game is set up to let fans decide who will start the game and that there will be voting for a few weeks. Thus, to complain that someone has been ‘bruised’ on the basis of merit is absurd, since the honor is not based purely on merit. In addition, voting takes place while earnings are being determined. The mood was also never just about the performance of the season.

2. Early voting did in Lillard before his hot run: Sure, the Blazers are 18-10 and riding on a six-game winning streak, but their exciting game came late towards the end of the fans’ vote, which began on January 28th. On that day, the Blazers lost to Houston to fall 9-8 and lost four out of six games. The Blazers have yet to start rolling after the loss of McCollum and Nurkic. Dallas was 8-10 on Jan. 28 and lost six of eight. Both teams struggled and their records were close enough that it would not be a factor for most fans. The first results of the fans were announced on February 4 and revealed that Doncic had a lead of 1,395,719 to 998,853, a difference of 396,866 or almost 40% more votes for Doncic. Lillard was already behind the 8-ball.

3. Previous perceptions matter: Doncic has penetrated this season due to a massive second season in the NBA and received early MVP buzz. Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 8.8 assists and 9.4 rebounds in 2019-20, with a true shooting percentage of 58.5%. Dallas won 43-32 to earn the seventh seed in the playoffs of the West. Lillard led Portland to the eighth seed with a 35-39 record. He also had a great season, but he had the same level as Doncic. Lillard averaged 30 points, 8.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds with a true shooting percentage of 56.6%. Benefit Doncic in overall numbers and to win. On top of that, he was instantly darling. This set the stage for the early voting in 2020-21.

4. Blazers’ hot streak finally mattered, but not enough: The Blazers upset Philadelphia on the road the night the first votes were released. However, Portland won that game without Lillard. In a series of four games, the Blazers won over Washington (then 4-13) and the 76ers (without Lillard), while blowing out 134-106 at Milwaukee and losing in New York to a six match to end. at 3-3 on February 6th. It was not a very inspiring piece. Dallas, meanwhile, went 2-2 in the same period, with Doncic winning for 42 points and 11 assists in a win over Curry and Golden State. Portland beat Orlando (9-16) on February 9, two days before the next group of votes was issued. It’s not as if Lillard and the Blazers did much between leading the vote and February 11 to lead voters to vote Lillard over Doncic. They won 5-3, with the most impressive win without Lillard. The vote count released on February 11 had Doncic in second place (Curry led by 4,033,050 votes) on 2,484,552 votes. Lillard was in third place at 2,095,157. Lillard received more votes than Doncic from the first release to the second, but not enough to drop his total deficit. However, Lillard reduced Doncic’s lead to 18.5%, from 39.7%. On February 11, Lillard’s push began. He led the Blazers to a home win over Philadelphia to get a six-game winning streak going, filled with amazing Lillard performances and moments. Portland also claimed a victory over Dallas on February 14, but it was unrealistic to expect the weekly show to have a significant impact on the mood. The final vote on Thursday was 3,335,042 for Doncic and 2,848,663 for Lillard. Doncic’s overall lead actually grew to 486,379 votes, but the percentage difference dropped to 17.1%. It is therefore clear that Lillard’s great play and team success helped him choose field with voters. But there was no way to agree that Lillard would be enough to make up the difference based on one week’s action.

At the end of the day, earning a place in the All-NBA team is far more important than becoming an All-Star starter, or even an All-Star reserve.

Lillard did the tricky trick in 2016 of not being selected to the All-Star Game, but as the All-NBA of the second team. This season, he has a legitimate chance of being named the All-NBA first team after not being named an All-Star starter. Also, Lillard is firmly entrenched as a league MVP candidate.

So it’s definitely not bad from Lillard’s perspective.

– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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