So Bradley Beal didn’t make the 2020 All-Star Game and the Washington Wizards streak of six consecutive years with an All-Star is done. What happened?
A week after the 2020 All-Star Game starters were announced, we finally learned who the NBA coaches selected as the All-Star Game reserves.
For the Western Conference, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Brandon Ingram, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul join the starters in Chicago.
For the Eastern Conference, it’s Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Domas Sabonis.
One name is noticeably missing from that list of All-Star reserves.
Like it or not, it looks like Bradley Beal will not be an All-Star this season. Of course, the actual game is still a couple of weeks away, so anything could happen. But I’m not going to wish injury on anybody so let’s just assume he’s on the outside looking in when it comes to Chicago’s All-Star festivities.
But why?
Bradley Beal is the second-highest scoring guard in the Eastern Conference. If it were strictly up to the players, Beal would be STARTING for the East in the All-Star Game after receiving the second-most votes among Eastern Conference backcourt players. Only James Harden has put up more 40-point games this season.Until they aren’t.
28.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.5 rebounds are All-Star numbers. So how can a guy be voted a starter by the players, but totally omitted from the final roster?
Every season, someone gets snubbed from the All-Star team. If they expanded the roster size from 12 players to 20 players, there would still be a four-way coin flip situation for the final spot. So what led to Beal’s snubbery this season? Let’s take a look…