Suns’ Devin Booker not selected to 2018 NBA All-Star game

Through more than half of his third NBA season, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker has taken his biggest step forward as a professional.

Despite that step including some of the most impressive numbers across the league, it wasn’t enough to call him an NBA All-Star.

As announced on TNT Tuesday, Booker was left out of the 2018 All-Star game that includes 12 players from the Western Conference.

Opinions over statistics

— Devin Booker (@DevinBook) January 24, 2018

Booker, 21, has averaged 25.0 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 37 games this season. He’s eighth in points per game and is one of eight players who average at least 25 points, four rebounds and four assists per game.

The seven others have been named to this year’s All-Star team, and all of them have earned multiple All-Star selections.

Reserves for the All-Star game were selected by the NBA’s head coaches, who picked two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards, leaving Booker eligible for four spots.

While it was a tough ask for Booker to get one of the two guard spots ahead of last year’s MVP Russell Westbrook, the three other spots went to Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard and Jimmy Butler. Lillard is the only one of the four to meet that aforementioned stat line.

Phoenix has only had two All-Stars this decade: Amar’e Stoudemire (2010) and Steve Nash (2010, 2012).

Starters were determined by 50 percent of a fan vote, 25 percent from a media vote and 25 percent from a player vote that Booker tied for fourth in.

For the first time in the history of the game, the teams will be picked by two captains who earn the most votes in their respective conference.

The All-Star game takes place in Los Angeles on Feb. 18.

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