NBA All-Star Snubs

The NBA All-Star game doesn't expand the roster like the MLB All-Star game nor does it offer a huge amount of openings like the NFL Pro Bowl. There are only 24 spots up for grabs between thirty teams, and the fans have control over 10 of them (as in, sometimes they make poor choices). Naturally, someone is going to be left out. Here are my top snubs:

Dirk Nowitzki

The Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, and Portland Trailblazers are the only teams currently in a playoff position to not have a representative in the All-Star game. Dirk Nowitzki's numbers aren't going to turn any heads, but his 17.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and a solid .398 percentage from behind the arc is still impressive. So is the .542 winning percentage for the Mavericks. 

But there's an even better number to measure Nowitzki's impressive season: 37. Dirk is 37-years old. He's the best player on a playoff team and has a PER seven points higher than fellow 37 year old (and current All-Star) Kobe Bryant. Dirk's entire career is under appreciated, it's only fitting his finals years are as unheralded.

Karl-Anthony Towns

Blake Griffin is the only rookie to make an All-Star roster in the last 13 years. That's pretty impressive considering that time frame includes every current All-Star's rookie season save for Bryant. Karl-Anthony Towns certainly made a strong argument to be included in the game.

Just 47 games into his career, Towns has already produced eight games of more than 25 points and 10 rebounds. His PER of 22.14 is the 19th best in the league, and 13th best in the Western Conference. Of course, to argue in favor of Towns would be to argue for removing someone from the Western Conference roster, and there really isn't anyone I would swap out for Towns. It would have just been nice to get some fresh blood in the game.

Kevin Love

This isn't a homer pick, it's really more an argument for formality. The Atlanta Hawks sat in first place in the Eastern Conference in 2015 and sent four players to the 2015 All-Star game. The Cavaliers have the best record in the East in 2016 and are only sending LeBron James.

For all the criticisms of Kevin Love, he really has been Cleveland's second best player all season. The Cavs easily navigated early season injuries to Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, and Timofey Mozgov due in part to the star power of Love and James. His usage has dropped off since Irving returned, but Love is still averaging 15.7 points and 10.8 rebounds — one of four players averaging a double-double in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, the biggest All-Star snub on the Cavs is David Blatt, but that's for another day...

Hassan Whiteside

It would be unnatural to not have Chris Bosh on the Eastern Conference roster, but his front court-mate has surpassed him in play. Bosh's 19.2 points and 7.6 rebounds are respectable, but Whiteside's average stat line of 12.3 points on an efficient.613 shooting, 11.2 rebounds, and a staggering 3.85 blocks is much more impressive. Only LeBron James and Paul Milsap have a higher PER in the Eastern Conference than Whiteside.

Just the other day, Whiteside put together a triple-double with a stat line of 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocks against the Chicago Bulls. It's not the first time he's posted a triple-double in those three categories. The All-Star game has plenty of athletes, dunkers, rebounders and long range snipers, but the rosters are missing a true shot blocker. Whiteside is currently the best in the business at rejecting shots by a large margin (Anthony Davis is second with 2.4 erases a game), it's a shame he's not going to get a chance to play.

Big Men

This list is just further confirmation that classic big men are getting disrespected. This is the result of the NBA changing the roster rules to lumping all players into just two categories: guards and forwards. Now this change is quite reflective of the current small-ball evolution of the NBA, but it's led to an imbalance in 2016's All-Star rosters. The West starting rotation consists of two point guards, a shooting guard, and two small forwards. The East is no better with one point guard, one shooting guard, and three small forwards starting. 

There are some great centers and low-post power forwards that won't get a chance to show their skills in Toronto. We'll be missing the four guys above and others like Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol. Andre Drummond is the only All-Star that doesn't have any kind of three-point game (LaMarcus Aldridge attempted a career high in three-point attempts last year with 105, but has only attempted 11 this year). Even classic bigs like Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins have already attempted a career-high in threes this season.

As the NBA continues to migrate out to the three-point line, an entire style of play is going extinct. I've always appreciated watching a low-post artist. It looks like a grown man's game. It's a shame some of the league's best won't get rewarded because they play a different style of basketball.