B/R NBA Staff's 2021 All-Star Game Picks: Who Really Deserves a Spot?

Building an NBA All-Star roster is a simple task on paper. Find 12 deserving players from the Eastern Conference, separate them into starters and reserves—don't forget to split your starters into "frontcourt" and "backcourt"—then wash, rinse, repeat for the West. 

In reality, the exercise isn't so simple.

B/R asked nine NBA writers to vote for their All-Star starters and reserves. A "Starter" vote was worth two points, and a "Reserve" vote was worth one point. Simple enough. 

When it was all said and done, each nominated player had a total number of voter points. Giannis Antetokounmpo, for example, unanimously earned nine Starter votes, totaling the maximum 18 voter points. His East Coast teammate Bradley Beal earned five starter votes (10 points) and four reserve votes (four points) for a total of 14 points. And Jayson Tatum unanimously earned nine Reserve votes for a total of nine points. 

These are just three examples. After totaling the points among all players receiving votes, we ranked them from highest to lowest in each conference to determine starters, reserves and the unfortunate (but still exceptional) stars who missed the cut.  

Bestowing All-Star status on 24 players is a celebration, but by default, it also leaves legitimate stars on the outside looking in. Lucky for you, Bleacher Report endured the heartbreak on your behalf, crunched the numbers and built the ideal rosters a week before TNT reveals the fan-voted starters on Feb. 18. 

Special shouts to B/R's basketball brains for casting their votes: Eric Pincus, Andy Bailey, Grant Hughes, Dan Favale, Jason Dumas, Greg Swartz, A. Sherrod Blakely, Mandela Namaste and Sean Highkin.

Hit the B/R app to let us know who makes your East and West 2021 All-Star rosters.

Backcourt: James Harden (14 voter points), Bradley Beal (14)

Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo (18), Kevin Durant (18), Joel Embiid (18)

Star power no longer feels quite as heavily tilted toward the Western Conference. Kevin Durant and James Harden heading East certainly helped on that front. Those two are no-brainers, with Harden's 11.8 assists leading the NBA and Durant's 29.5 points trailing only Bradley Beal's 33.2. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time reigning MVP, is another easy call. Milwaukee's defense caused some early concern, but the Bucks still lead the league in average point differential, and they're scoring a blistering 121.1 points per 100 possessions with Giannis on the floor (Dallas set a record with 116.7 points per 100 possessions last season).

Joel Embiid, meanwhile, may be the front-runner in one of the most crowded MVP races we've seen in years. Beyond his 29.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists in just 32.0 minutes, Embiid has one of the league's biggest net rating swings. Philadelphia is plus-11.3 points per 100 possessions with Embiid on the floor and minus-8.0 with him off.

The only starting spot to maybe quibble over is Beal's. Yes, he's the league's leading scorer, but the Wizards have one of the worst records in the league, and Beal has looked entirely disengaged for long stretches. If Jaylen Brown (also earning 14 voter points) had spent a few more minutes at the 2 this season, a backcourt debate would be understandable. But given Beal's level of production and Brown's time at the 3, the former wins out. 

Also receiving starter votes: Jaylen Brown (14 voter points), Trae Young (10), Kyrie Irving (9)

• Jaylen Brown (14 voter points)
• Trae Young (10)
• Kyrie Irving (9)
• Jayson Tatum (9) 
• Bam Adebayo (6)
• Domantas Sabonis (5)
• Julius Randle (4)

Not much to gripe over here. Some may point to a hiatus shrouded in mystery from Kyrie Irving to try to discount his inclusion, but he's been as electrifying as ever when he's on the floor. Entering Tuesday's matchup with the Pistons, Kyrie was on pace to set career highs in points per game (27.5), threes per game (2.9) and three-point percentage (43.0). 

Others may wonder about Julius Randle, the bruising point forward from the sub-.500 New York Knicks. His team is 11-15, but it's tough to fault Randle, who's averaging 22.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists. Prior to this season, Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Garnett, Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook were the only players in history with 22-11-6 seasons.

As far as snubs go, Khris Middleton is probably the biggest one. After making each of the last two All-Star Games, he's averaging 20.8 points on outrageous shooting splits: 52.1 percent from the field, 44.8 percent from three and 93.8 percent from the line. He's also handing out a career-high and team-best 6.0 dimes per game. 

Full disclosure: Middleton and Randle received the same number of voter points. They were the last two players duking it out for the final spot. In this case, Barney Stinson's "one rule" won out: New was better, and the NBA editorial staff decided the newcomer beat out the two-time All-Star. 

Others who at least have arguments include Fred VanVleet, Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant, John Collins, Ben Simmons, Malcolm Brogdon and Gordon Hayward, to name a few. 

See how tough it is to whittle this down to 12? 

Also receiving votes: Khris Middleton (4 voter points), Zach LaVine (3), Nikola Vucevic (2), Gordon Hayward (2), Myles Turner (1), Tobias Harris (1), Jerami Grant (1)

Backcourt: Stephen Curry (18 voter points), Luka Doncic (14)

Frontcourt: LeBron James (18), Kawhi Leonard (15), Nikola Jokic (18)

All five of these names are pretty obvious.

Nikola Jokic has led the league in box plus/minus and Basketball Reference's MVP Tracker from the get-go, dominating as a scorer, passer and rebounder. Right now, he's at an eye-popping 27.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game.

Then there's LeBron James, who may well be the narrative leader in the clubhouse for MVP. Karl Malone holds the crown for the oldest player in league history to secure that honor. This season, LeBron is a year older than Malone was in 1998-99. He's averaging 25.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists and posting a typically stout net rating swing.

Stephen Curry is another veteran multi-time MVP who's showing he's clearly years away from a significant decline. With KD gone, Klay Thompson out with injury and Draymond Green seemingly forgetting how to score, Curry's offensive responsibility may be as big as it's ever been. And he appears up to the challenge, with averages of 29.5 points and 4.9 threes to go along with a 65.5 true shooting percentage and the game's biggest offensive rating swing among players with at least 200 minutes.

Curry's backcourt-mate, Luka Doncic, may face criticism similar to Beal because of his team's underwhelming performance, but his numbers may be even tougher to ignore. His three-point percentage remains concerning, but 27.8 points, 9.3 assists and 8.7 boards per game is tough to nitpick.

Finally, there's Kawhi Leonard, who has managed to quietly average 26.0 points, 5.1 assists and 1.8 threes to go along with his predictably strong defense for one of the top teams in the West.

Also receiving starter votes: Damian Lillard (12 voter points), Anthony Davis (12), Paul George (10), Donovan Mitchell (7)

• Damian Lillard (12 voter points)
• Anthony Davis (12)
• Paul George (10)
• Devin Booker (8)
• Rudy Gobert (8)
• Donovan Mitchell (7)
• Zion Williamson (2)

For a while, it looked like Anthony Davis might be a shoo-in to start alongside his Lakers teammate, but he's receded into a pretty clear No. 2 spot over the last few weeks. Each of the five starters above are the unquestioned leaders of their team, not to mention absurdly productive. Davis is still one of the game's best scorers and interior defenders, but his slide to reserve status is tough to question.

Other than that, there probably aren't many surprises here.

Nitpickers' eyes probably go to Devin Booker or maybe Donovan Mitchell. Both are deserving selections, but there are holes you can find in their cases.

Booker's numbers have dropped off a bit with Chris Paul now in town, and the chemistry between those two isn't quite there. And Mitchell, though his numbers are impressive for the West's top team, might have some competition on his own roster. The impact of Mike Conley's steady hand may be doing more for the Jazz than Mitchell.

There's also Zion Williamson. Full disclosure (again): Zion earned the same number of votes as six other players in our pool. If you favor any of them over someone whose defense (or lack thereof) has been a problem for New Orleans much of the season, you won't get any arguments here. But with respect to the other candidates, "must-see TV" is an All-Star Game attribute. And we took that into account alongside on-court production.  

If you're looking for snubs, start with Conley, Christian Wood and Brandon Ingram. De'Aaron Fox of the surging Kings might even have an argument. And if CJ McCollum hadn't gotten hurt, he would've been an easy pick.

Shouts to Rip City's Christian James, who did receive a private honorable mention from one of our esteemed voters. 

Also receiving votes: DeMar DeRozan (2 voter points), Brandon Ingram (2), Mike Conley (2), De'Aaron Fox (2), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2), Christian Wood (2), Chris Paul (1)