Photo Credit: Ximo Pierto Final
The Golden State Warriors have four players selected to play in the 2017 NBA All-Star game. They have two starters, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, and two reserves, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The San Antonio Spurs only have one player chosen and that’s Kawhi Leonard, a starter for the Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge – who is a five-time All-Star and wasn’t chosen this year – thinks it’s wrong for Golden State to have four All-Stars to San Antonio’s one when the Spurs are only four games behind.
Aldridge has done his part, sacrificing the chase for gaudy statistics to be part of a machine that again has the league’s second-best record. That success warrants greater consideration for Kawhi Leonard as MVP but certainly doesn’t come on the back of a one-man show. And as one of four players who have made an All-NBA team in each of the past three seasons – along with LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Chris Paul – Aldridge would’ve liked for his reputation as a five-time All-Star, along with the Spurs’ stellar record, to have led to him joining Leonard in New Orleans for the All-Star Game.
“I’m older, so I’m not going to come home and be mad or anything,” Aldridge, 31, told The Vertical. “But I do think that it was wrong for Golden State to have four [All-Stars] and we’re a few games behind and only have one. It is what it is. I’m in this position and I’m going to enjoy my break and just come back fresh.”
