New voting system helps Warriors star earn starting all-star game spot over Westbrook
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The NBA recently announced the starting lineups for the NBA All-Star Game<\/strong> in New Orleans\u00a0the results sent ripples through the basketball world. James Harden<\/strong> deservingly earned one of the Western Conference’s starting backcourt nods. It was the other backcourt selection, Steph Curry<\/strong>, who shocked many by being named the West’s other starting\u00a0guard over Russell Westbrook<\/strong>.<\/p>\n To start, Curry’s\u00a0selection isn’t completely\u00a0unwarranted. Steph\u00a0has won back-to-back MVPs\u00a0and is putting up comparable numbers this season to those from his 2014-15 MVP season. Through 42 games, Curry’s averaging a respectable 24.6 points per game, along with 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds a game. He’s also knocking down 40 percent of his threes.\u00a0Those are definitely numbers deserving of an all-star nod, but more deserving than Westbrook? Doubtful.<\/p>\n Simply put, Westbrook has been tearing up<\/em> the NBA this season. Since Kevin Durant’s<\/strong> offseason departure to the Golden State Warriors<\/strong>, Westbrook has single-handedly carried his Oklahoma City Thunder<\/strong> through the first half of the season. The team is 25-19, good enough for 6th in the Western Conference. Westbrook has averaged a triple-double with a league-leading 30.6 points per game, along with 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists over 44 games. He’s the first player to average a triple-double\u00a0this late in a season since Oscar Robertson<\/strong> did so\u00a0in 1961-62. To help put the season Westbrook is having into perspective, he has a triple-double in 21 games, which equates to nearly half\u00a0(47.8%) of his team’s games. Given\u00a0how much Westbrook individually carries\u00a0his team, it would have been safe to assume he’d be an all-star starter.<\/p>\n Although Curry didn’t\u00a0deserve to be an all-star starter over Westbrook, recency bias stemming from the past few seasons of Curry’s ascension could explain his incredible success in the\u00a0fan vote. After all, Curry became one of the NBA’s most marketable athletes\u00a0over the past few years. He continues to redefine today’s game by knocking down\u00a0three-pointers from limitless range. He has an NBA title to his name\u00a0and led\u00a0the Warriors to an NBA record 73 wins in 2015-16. Curry’s three-point prowess helped usher in today’s pace-and-space game. Despite not having quite the same impact\u00a0as last year, Curry remains one of\u00a0the NBA’s\u00a0top players.<\/p>\nRussell Westbrook – Triple-Double Machine<\/h3>\n
Reason Behind Curry Starting<\/h3>\n