Assembling the 2023 BBNBA All-Star team
The final NBA All-Star vote tallies have been counted and, unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, you won’t find any former Kentucky players in the starting lineup this year. The NBA weights votes between the fans (50%), media (25%), and players (25%) in order to formulate the starters, then they turn over the job of reserve selection to the coaches. We’ll discover which former ‘Cats impressed league coaches enough to earn an All-Star bid when the NBA releases the whole roster on February 2.
Barring injury replacement necessity, 24 players make the All-Star game. Now that the starters are official, that leaves 14 more spots to fill, seven from each conference.
While the coaches are not beholden to the vote totals, the numbers might be a good indication of who is in the running. In the Eastern Conference, Bam Adebayo and Julius Randle came in 7th and 8th respectively in the final ranking of frontcourt players.
In Bam’s case, fans ranked him 11th overall in voting, but he got a bump in both player and media votes. As for Randle, he tied for 5th in media voting, but fans and players had him ranked near the bottom of the top 10.
Out West, former Kentucky players faired much better. Anthony Davis landed in the 4th overall ranking among frontcourt players, while three of spots 3-7 belonged to former ‘Cats amongst guards. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came in 4th, De’Aaron Fox came in 6th, and Devin Booker came in 7th.
This puts several guys right on the borderline of selection, but while we await their All-Star fate, let’s do our own round of voting. Kentucky has a league-best 26 former players on active NBA rosters. Who are the best 10 to serve as the BBNBA All-Stars this season?
The No-Brainer Frontcourt Players
Anthony Davis, now back on the court after a stress injury in his foot, was playing some of the best basketball of his career before he got hurt. Davis is averaging 27.2 points per game, the most since the 2017-2018 season. On top of that, he is averaging a career-high 12.1 rebounds per game. The Brow has done much of his damage without LeBron James on the court, but those numbers don’t lie. He’s a beast.
Next up in automatic All-Star nods goes to Julius Randle. The left-handed brute has not only been dominating the paint where he is averaging a career-high 10.9 rebounds per game this season but he has been doing damage from the outside as well. Randle knocks down 2.7 3-pointers per contest, helping boost his point average to a career-high 24.6. Randle made the NBA All-Star game in 2021 and his numbers are better now than they were then. The coaches should do what is right and make him a reserve.
Bam Adebayo is another player who is having a better year than the last time he made the NBA All-Star game in 2020. One of the most versatile and well-rounded bigs in the league, Bam is averaging his own career-bests in points (21.6) and rebounds (10.2).
There’s an under-the-radar, do-it-all former Kentucky player who has been dynamic this season. Down in San Antonio, Keldon Johnson has been leading the Spurs in points with a career-high 21.6 per game. He also is dishing out a career-high in assists. Johnson has taken on the leadership role on this team in addition to being their first option scorer.
The Obvious Choice Guards
I have sung the praises of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a lot this season and my lungs aren’t tired yet. SGA’s basketball career took off on a meteoric rise over the last few seasons and he is now flying somewhere in orbit. At 30.8 points per game, Gilgeous-Alexander ranks 5th in the league in scoring. He is a lock for the Most Improved Player award and should waltz (or however Canadians eloquently dance) to his first All-Star appearance this year.
Devin Booker is another player that, if it weren’t for a groin injury causing him to miss a few weeks of action, would be an automatic All-Star selection. Before he went out, Book was averaging a career-best 27.1 points and was the best shooting guard in the league. Let’s hope this last couple of weeks off the court did not make coaches forget that.
De’Aaron Fox, who came in ranked one notch higher than Booker in the fan/media/player vote tallies, is yet another former Kentucky guy putting up big numbers. His 23.8 points per game are his most since the 2020-21 season, and his 4.3 rebounds per game are a career-high. Most impressively, he has led the Sacramento Kings to the best record they’ve had in 15 years, so the man deserves some recognition.
Tyrese Maxey, similar to Booker, is a former ‘Cat who has posted career scoring numbers yet has been limited by injury. His 21.3 points per contest are the best of his young career and if it weren’t for an untimely foot ailment, Maxey would have been more competitive for an NBA All-Star spot, not to mention the league’s Most Improved Player.
On the BBNBA All-Star Bubble
Normally Karl-Anthony Towns would be an easy selection, but a calf injury has limited KAT to just 21 games. While there is no minimum game requirement for the real NBA All-Star game, this totally serious and important BBNBA All-Star roster selection committee feels like limited playing time must factor in. Moreover, when KAT was on the court, he averaged a career-low in rebounding thanks to his newfound twin tower teammate, Rudy Gobert, and the lowest scoring average of his career since his rookie season. Still, 20.8 points and 8.2 boards are really good numbers.
Reigning NBA 6th Man of the Year, Tyler Herro, is now a starter for the Miami Heat and his numbers show he is getting better. He is scoring at the same clip as last season (20.8 points per game) but he’s averaging a career-high in both rebounds (5.8) and assists (4.4).
Jamal Murray, fresh off missing all of last season with ACL surgery, is back and looking like the Blue Arrow of old. He is averaging 19.1 points per game, the second-highest mark in the league, and is setting a career-high in assists at 5.7 per game.
On the outside of the bubble, but still worth mentioning are PJ Washington, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Immanuel Quickley. All three of these guys are averaging career highs in scoring, all in double digits. They play huge roles for their respective teams and should only continue to grow their games from here.
Final BBNBA All-Star Rosters
The NBA picks three frontcourt players and two guards to start, but considering the personnel we have to work with, I’m reserving the right to have three guards and two frontcourt players on a given team. Call it the Basketball Benny BBNBA All-Star starting lineup.
Without further ado, here are your 2023 BBNBA All-Star teams.
Blue
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Tyrese Maxey
Tyler Herro
Keldon Johnson
Anthony Davis
White
De’Aaron Fox
Devin Booker
Jamal Murray
Julius Randle
Bam Adebayo
The top three bubble guys were tough to whittle to two, but considering his limited playing time and career lows when he was on the court, Karl-Anthony Towns barely missed the cut. If we had reserve players on these hypothetical teams, he would be first off the bench alongside Immanuel Quickley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and PJ Washington.
So, what do you think? Who wins in this matchup? Team Blue or Team White?
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