G Devin Booker snubbed as 2020 NBA All-Star Game reserve
Jan 30, 2020, 4:24 PM | Updated: 6:33 pm
Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns sits on the bench before the start of the NBA game against the Indiana Pacers at Talking Stick Resort Arena on January 22, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Devin Booker has waited five years to become an NBA All-Star, and Thursday he learned that he’ll have to wait at least six despite year-after-year growth. Booker is not among the Western Conference All-Star reserves, the NBA announced.
The Phoenix Suns issued a statement through general manager James Jones on the news.
I’ve played with and against multiple All-Stars in this league and Devin Booker is undoubtedly an NBA All-Star.
The news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes and The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The 23-year-old shooting guard would have become the first Suns player to make the NBA All-Star Game since 2012, when point guard Steve Nash made his eighth and final appearance during a season that ended up being his last in Phoenix.
Booker was a long-shot to make the All-Star contest as a starter through a combination of a fan, media and player vote, leaving his fate as a reserve to the coaches.
The leading fan vote-getters in the Western Conference, Dallas point-forward Luka Doncic and Rockets guard James Harden, were named as the two starters at guard.
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Booker was only eighth in fan voting, but he did receive a comparative bump in the eyes of his peers.
Players voted Booker as the fourth guard in the West, and that lent some credence to the belief that he wouldn’t earn a snub from NBA coaches, who pick the All-Star reserves.
“I’ve done a lot to promote our guy, and I wouldn’t do it if I feel like he wasn’t worthy of it,” Phoenix head coach Monty Williams said a week ago. “It’d be hard-pressed to name another guard that’s that much better than Devin, that is that efficient and plays the way he plays and means as much to our team and where we are as much as Devin.”
Booker is averaging 27.1 points, 6.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. He’s shooting a career-best 51% from the field while hitting 37% from three-point range and 92% from the foul line.
Despite being the easy target for opposing defensive schemes, he remains one of the most efficient heavy-usage players in the game.
Of 18 NBA players scoring at least 20 points and averaging more than five assists per game while using at least 20% of their squads’ possessions, Booker is first with a 63% true shooting percentage, which accounts for three-pointers and free throws.
