Damian Lillard has been slammed again.
The Portland Trail Blazers point guard, despite all the MVP version in February and his out-of-this-world early-season game, was denied a starting spot in the NBA All-Star 2021 game in 2021, after a weighted vote from fans, media and NBA players left him off the field. Western Conference team.
Lillard was named an appetizer by media and NBA players and received the second most votes among Western Conference guards on both ballots. But he finished third in the fan voice behind Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks guard. The result was a tie between the two dynamic playmakers, and in the end Doncic won the break-even point – and started nodding – as he gained more fan votes.
Doncic joins Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles, and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the Western Conference team.
Lillard has earned five All-Star berths over the years, but never started a spot. And he may never have earned it again.
Lillard carried the Blazers through an injury-plagued season with an overwhelming mix of shooting, shooting and playmaking. He averages 29.8 points, 7.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game, and more than one-third of the season he is third in the NBA in the standings, 10th in assists and second in three points (112).
Throughout, he has been remarkably engaging, confirming his status as perhaps the NBA’s most feared assassin. In connecting situations – defined as those when the score of a match is within five points in the last five minutes of regulation or overtime – Lillard leads the NBA in the scoring (82 points), is third in the assists (14) and shoots a sob 63.2%
And perhaps most importantly, his game brought the Blazers to a surprising 18-10 record – the fourth best in the West – even though they played more than half of the season without starters CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic.
By comparison, Doncic’s game was enchanting – he averaged 29.1 points, 9.4 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game – but the overwhelming Mavericks (13-15) are 10th in the West.
The starting lineup was launched on TNT before it doubled down on Thursday night and the Within the NBA the crew unanimously agreed that Lillard was knocked down.
“I still think Damian Lillard should be an appetizer,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “No one is feared in the game like Damian Lillard’s husband.”
Kenny Smith added: “Popularity competition, Luka is going to win. But, as Shaq said, Damian Lillard is the most feared man in basketball. He was my MVP before the season because I thought he could do it. ”
Eventually it comes down to a popularity contest – literally – and fans choose Doncic over Lillard.
Lillard was this close to becoming just the seventh player in franchise history to earn a starting spot in the All-Star Game. Clyde Drexler (1992-94), Bill Walton (1978), Maurice Lucas (1978), Geoff Petrie (1974) and Sidney Wicks (1973) were selected as All-Star starters as Blazers, while LaMarcus Aldridge won the game in 2015 as’ a replacement for Anthony Davis.
The starting lineup for this year’s game – scheduled for March 7 in Atlanta – was determined by the combined votes of fans, media and NBA players on a weighted scale. Fan votes made up 50% of the vote, while player and media votes made up 25%.
– Joe Freeman | [email protected] | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian / OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.