On Wednesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that Devin Booker will replace the injured Anthony Davis as a Western Conference All-Star reserve.
Earlier this week, the Phoenix Suns star was snubbed by the league after not receiving a spot on the NBA All-Star Game 2021 roster. The NBA community, including Los Angeles Lakers megastar LeBron James, called out the selection, wondering why Booker was left out of the reserves.
Anthony Davis, who last suited up on February 14 in a matchup against the Denver Nuggets, has been out of the Lakers’ rotation with a calf strain injury.
According to league rules, when a player is selected to the All-Star Game and is unable to participate, a replacement player from the same conference is to be selected by the Commissioner in his place.
This will be Booker’s second straight year and second overall All-Star selection. Both times it has come as a replacement, as he took an injured Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard’s place a year ago. He is averaging 24.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds on a career-high 50.1 percent shooting and 38.1 percent from three-point range in 26 games this season.
It is reported that this will be the first time the Phoenix Suns will have multiple All-Star selections in a single season since 2009-10 (Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire). Chris Paul is the other Suns’ All-Star this year. As a team, the Suns currently sit in the No. 4 slot in the Western Conference’s standings with an overall record of 20-10.
“There’s no doubt about it. No one can debate that Book’s not an all-star,” said Suns head coach Williams, earlier this week. “End of story. The impact on winning, the numbers and we have a few wins. So from my perspective, I don’t think you’ll find any coach in the league that would debate that he isn’t an All-Star. End of story.”
