The All-Star starters were announced on Monday afternoon, featuring most of the usual subjects, including Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets for a sixth straight season. One player who had a case, albeit a long shot, was Jamal Murray, who has had an excellent season and deserves to make the game for the first time.
In terms of Western Conference All-Star voting, Jamal finished 14th in the fan voting, 11th in player voting, and 9th in media voting. With 12 players making it from each conference, that would make things fairly tight, but don’t worry, these results have no actual bearing on the All-Star reserves.
Those selections are left up to the NBA coaches, who have generally proven to take that responsibility seriously. Murray is extremely deserving, and regardless of what the fans and players think, he should be a lock to be a first-time All-Star this February.
New USA vs. World format won’t impact Murray’s All-Star bid
The new All-Star format is not a reason to worry for Murray either. The event will be a three-team tournament with three teams of 8 players, two made up of American players and one international team. That would mean 16 players from the United States and 8 from the rest of the world.
But the NBA has announced that they will still select the 24 All-Stars like in years past, taking the top 12 from each conference. If there are not enough Americans or International players, the commissioner will simply add players at his discretion until it works.
Hailing from Canada, Murray would play for the International team, which already is sure to include Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic, just from the starters.
Murray has clear path to maiden All-Star berth
So, Murray’s first path to making the All-Star Game is being named one of the seven reserves from the Western Conference. Anthony Edwards will certainly make it, but beyond that, Jamal has as good a case as anyone, including players like Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard.
Even if, by some miscarriage of justice, Murray is not chosen as a West reserve, there could still possibly be a path to make it as a commissioner’s pick for the International team. But that seems unlikely, as the guys who would have to edge out Murray for a West reserve spot would probably be international players such as Deni Avdija, Lauri Markkanen, Alperen Sengun, and Rudy Gobert.
But again, fear not; Jamal has had a better season than all of those players, and his team is performing better. There’s no question that when the reserves are announced on February 1st, Jamal will finally be an All-Star.