One of the biggest robberies in NBA history occurred on Thursday when Damian Lillard was left out of the starting line-up of the 2021 Western Conference All-Stars. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar was passed over for Luka Doncic after the pair figured in a tie in the final ballots.
In the end, the final decision was determined by a popularity contest, as the Dallas Mavericks youngster nabbed the spot after having more fan votes than Dame.
Now, this is not a knock on Doncic’s game. He definitely deserves to be an All-Star for the second straight year, after being the clear bright spots in the Mavs’ season so far.
However, being a starter usually entails that you are the best player in that position. As magical as Luka has been, he’s not the best guard in the Western Conference.
Sure, Doncic will still serve up plenty of highlights come March 7, but fans were certainly robbed of a Lillard-Stephen Curry starting backcourt for the West.
While Mavericks fans may have a legitimate case for why their Slovenian star deserves that first five slot, know there are even more compelling reasons for Damian Lillard
For starters, Lillard has evidently impacted winning more than Doncic has thus far. The Blazers are playing their best basketball of the season so far, racking up six straight wins and winning eight of its last 10 games. Portland is currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference with an 18-10 record.
Dame has been the main catalyst of this surge and he’s doing it without CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Lillard is carrying his team to victory with a supporting cast of 36-year-old Carmelo Anthony along with several talented but unproven players.
Doncic and the Mavericks, on the other hand, have failed to live up to the hype they had entering the 2020-21 campaign. After an impressive run inside the bubble last year, fans and pundits expected Dallas to become a major threat in the West. Not only that, but Luka Doncic was the favorite to win the MVP award before the season began. So far, neither of those predictions seem close to reality right now.
It’s the Blazers that have been putting the league on notice as of late, while the Mavs are not even in the playoff picture at 10th place with a 13-15 start.
Sure, Doncic also doesn’t have the most impressive teammates outside of Kristaps Porzingis, but no doubt he has the better supporting cast over Lillard at this juncture, at least on paper.
Stats-wise the case can be made that Doncic is indeed the better all-around player between the two.
The 21-year-old playmaker, after all, averages better numbers of 29.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 9.4 assists in 27 games so far. Although the Blazers scorer is not too far behind, notching 29.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 7.7 assists in 27 games as well.
Lillard is a much better shooter, making 45.1 percent of his field goals and 38.4 of his attempts from deep. The last head-to-head between the Blazers and the Mavericks clearly depicts Lillard’s superiority over Doncic.
Luka finished with better stats of 44 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds, but it was Dame who led his team to the W with a brilliant 34-point outing along with 11 assists.
Also, let’s not forget that Lillard is practically the most clutch player in the league today, and maybe even in history. In five-point games in the last five minutes, Dame Dolla has a career record of 82 points on 63.2 percent shooting from the field and 58.8 from past the arc, while leading the Blazers to a 12-3 record in that span.
Doncic, of course, has also come through for the Mavs on several occasions, but he just doesn’t compare to Lillard right now at this point of their careers.
In any other season, and probably in every future season to come, Luka Doncic should be an All-Star starter. But this year, Damian Lillard deserved it every bit more than Luka did.
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