NBA All Star Reserves were announced today, and the Sacramento Kings were shut out from the selections. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis were both snubbed from the team, barring injury replacements yet to come.
De’Aaron Fox is averaging a career high 27.2 points per game, to go along with 5.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. Fox has increased his three point shooting this season, taking a career high 7.9 threes per game, and making a career high 38.0% of his attempts.
Domantas Sabonis is averaging 19.9 points per game (just shy of his career high of 20.3 in 2020-21). Sabonis is averaging a league leading and career high 13.0 rebounds per game. Sabonis is also averaging 8 assists per game, another career high, an 7th most in the NBA.
As Akis wrote earlier today, both players were absolutely deserving of an All-Star berth. It’s an unfortunate result of a stacked Western Conference. The excuse on TNT for shutting out the Kings is that voters were “rewarding winning” giving Karl-Anthony Towns the final spot, while also ignoring that Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, and Devin Booker all made the All-Star team representing teams with worse records than Sacramento.
Fox and Sabonis probably welcome the break, as neither are the types of players who care much for these types of awards, but it’s a slap in the face to the Kings stars and their fans.
Keegan Murray will represent the Kings at All-Star Weekend in the Rising Stars game.
