A groin injury to Portland Trailblazers star point guard Damian Lillard suffered just prior to the All-Star break opened up a roster spot for Sunday's All-Star game.
That spot was eventually given, after pleading from Lillard himself to Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker.
According to Lillard, he had to convince Booker to take part in this weekend's festivities.
“I'm really happy for him (Booker) to get this first one. Just watching his demeanor and how he interacts, the things that he says, I assumed that he would probably be like ‘I don't know if I want to go.' So when I spoke to him, I said ‘You need to go. Just go.' I'm happy he's going to be here,” Lillard said.
When the All-Star rosters were officially announced in January, Booker was seen as one of the biggest snubs to this year's list of All-Stars.
In just his fifth season at the age of 23, Booker is averaging 26.4 points, 6.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor and 35.8 percent from deep.
Devin Booker has been playing at or near All-Star level for the last few seasons but Phoenix's team success has generally held him back from being named an All-Star
While it's much better than the 19 total wins last season, the Suns are still 6.5 games out of the Western Conference playoffs and sit in 12th place with a 22-33 record.
As for Damian Lillard, the Blazers star was having one of the best few weeks of his entire career before suffering the groin injury in the team's last game before the break.
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