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Brooklyn Nets: No All-Star nod for D’Angelo Russell … yet

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets D'Angelo Russell. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets D'Angelo Russell. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Eastern Conference reserves for the All-Star Game were selected Thursday night and D’Angelo Russell of the Brooklyn Nets was not selected … yet.

Brooklyn Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell is having the best season of his career and has made a strong case for Eastern Conference Player of the Month in January, but he was not rewarded with his first career All-Star selection when the reserves for next month’s mid-winter classic were chosen.

At least not yet.

Eastern Conference coaches selected Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo for his second straight All-Star nod, but Oladipo tore his right quadricep tendon on Jan. 23 and will be out for the remainder of the season.

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Commissioner Adam Silver will select a player from the East to replace Oladipo in advance of the Feb. 7 All-Star Draft.

In addition to Oladipo, guards selected from the East include Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers  and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.

In the frontcourt, the choices were Blake Griffin of the Detroit Pistons, Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Simmons, Vucevic and Middleton are first-time All-Stars.

The starters for the East were announced on Jan. 24 and include frontcourt players Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee, Kawhi Leonard of the Raptors and Joel Embiid of Philadelphia, with guards Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics and Kemba Walker of the host Charlotte Hornets.

The reserves from the Western Conference include guards Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.

The frontcourt picks were Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jokic is the lone first-timer out West.

The starters named last week were LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of Golden State and Paul George of the Thunder in the frontcourt, with guards Stephen Curry of Golden State and James Harden of the Houston Rockets.

The teams will be chosen by the captains — as determined by the top vote-getter among fans in each conference — Antetokounmpo and James.

Russell, in his fourth NBA season, has emerged as the leader of the upstart Nets this season, averaging team-highs of 19.5 points and 6.4 assists per game, which are also career highs.

He’s also putting up 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 29.6 minutes per game, while shooting 44 percent overall and 37.6 percent from 3-point range.

His shooting numbers, including an 81 percent mark from the free throw line, are all at career-high levels.

In 14 games in January, with Thursday night’s game at San Antonio the final game of the month, Russell has averaged 23.7 points, 7.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 30.4 minutes on 48.9 percent shooting overall and 42 percent shooting from deep.

He was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Jan. 21, his first player of the week honor of his career. The 22-year-old has never been named Player of the Month.

Russell’s omission leaves Joe Johnson in 2014 as the last Net named to an All-Star Game. Below are the players from the Nets chosen as All-Stars since the franchise came to the NBA in 1976:

Next. 10 best Nets from 2nd NBA decade (1986-96). dark

The franchise’s ABA All-Star selections include: