NBA Fact or Fiction: Should Kyrie Irving Represent the NBA in the 2023 All-Star Game?

Each week throughout the 2022-23 NBA season, we’ll delve deeper into some of the league’s biggest storylines to determine if the trends are based more on fact or fiction.

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Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving goes into the final weekend of fan voting for the NBA All-Star Game with the highest score for his Eastern Conference position, which has resulted in a starting appearance every time the league has 50% of this decision from fans and shared it among media and players in 2017.

In other words, a gamer who has platformed anti-Semitism and has repeatedly refused to apologize for it or condemn it – to the point where the networks have labeled him “currently unsuitable for association with them”. and the Anti-Defamation League would not.accept your donation with a clear conscience— could be a forward-looking representative of the best and brightest NBA on the global stage just a few months later.

I understand he apologized in an Instagram post, which he has since deleted, despite never “explaining the specific beliefs in the documentary that I agreed to.” I’ve heard he appeared contrite at a press conference ahead of his return from an eight-game suspension, although hours later he refused to condemn a group of his supporters outside Barclays Center who expressed the same anti-Semitic beliefs as in the film .

This brought him back onto the court, where he averaged 25.8 points (48/35/91 shooting times), 4.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 33 games this season. Neither the forced apology nor his performance will guarantee him a spot on the All-Star list, whether he starts or not. Making him the face of the league so soon after his “hate speech” is a far worse message than telling him he cannot attend this exhibition.

The All-Star Game is an honor, not a right. I would listen to an argument that he should participate if his future earnings are tied to his selection, but that is not the case and even then I might not support his candidacy. (I’m not one of the 100 media members voting for All-Star starters either. This is just a firm opinion.)

The story goes on

It’s unclear if Irving deserves an All-Star nod based on his play on the court this season. It’s clear he doesn’t warrant a starting spot and the statistical case against him for fully making the roster is relatively straightforward.

Take the conference’s top 10 guards this season — a list that doesn’t even include recent All-Stars Dejounte Murray, Zach LaVine, Bradley Beal and LaMelo Ball — and ask yourself these questions…

How often are they available (games played, minutes)?

How many points are they producing (points per game + assist points created)?

How efficiently are they doing it (player efficiency rating, shot percentage)?

How are they doing defensively (CraftedDPM, defensive real plus-minus)?

How much do they affect profit (profit shares, profits over replacement?

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has not been selected for the All-Star Game in two of his last three seasons. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

I’m not sure what argument you can make for Irving as an all-star starter other than one based solely on reputation, which for someone who’s done a decent job this season would be pretty much his to destroy.

Also, I can’t be sure what motivated the fans to make Irving the leading voter among the Eastern guards. He’s added and counted 1.2 million votes since he last made an all-star team two years ago, when he had a far better statistical resume (and had yet to oppose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate ).

I’m sure you can make the case for at least nine other guards over Irving, including Brown, whose advanced metrics don’t properly capture his contributions to the league’s best team (and who has his ex-teammate’s rights as defended under the collective agreement). a union colleague). We don’t even have to evaluate how wildly Brooklyn’s fortunes fluctuate when Kevin Durant isn’t paired alongside Irving.

Brown, like a handful of other worthy contenders, has appeared in 20% more of his team’s games this season than Irving. Why? Because he wasn’t suspended for three weeks for confronting millions of people about anti-Semitism – many of whom still use him to do it – and repeatedly refusing to apologize for it.

Four All-Star roster spots are guaranteed to East guarantors, two of which will be decided when media and player ballots due on Saturday are averaged and added to the fan vote. The coaches select two more East Guards as reserves. They also have two wildcard positions, not an easy decision when recent East All-Stars Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Pascal Siakam, Bam Adebayo and Julius Randle are among the worthy contenders for six guaranteed forecourts .

The all-star lead for Irving the player should be razor-thin if not for the fan votes reminding us of his influence. The scope for Irving, the sport’s ambassador, should be imperceptible. The NBA does not offer an official all-star criteria, but I will remind the media, players, and coaches who make roster decisions that one of your tiebreakers can be the fact that no one else made antisemitism their platform this season has.

Determination: fiction. Kyrie Irving shouldn’t be an NBA All-Star this season.

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Ben Rohrbach is a senior NBA writer for Yahoo Sports. Do you have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach