On January 12, Beijing time, John Hollinger and Josh Robbins, reporters of the well-known American media The Athletic, wrote about this year's Cleveland All-Star lineup. Two journalists with media votes talked about their choice of starters and gave their own substitution predictions.
Two reporters started in the East, voting for DeRozan, Trae Young, Durant, Alphabet Brother and Embiid. In addition, the seven players they predict to be selected for the bench are: VanVleet, LaVine, Jimmy Butler, Otter, Jarrett Allen, Jum Holliday and Lamelo Ball. This means that the Nets' current main guard, James Harden, is not optimistic, and neither the starting nor the bench are included in the consideration of the two reporters.
Under the All-Star selection rules, the starters will be made up of three parts of votes, 50% of the fan vote, 25% of the media vote and 25% of the players. As for the lineup of substitute players, it is up to the head coaches of the 30 teams to decide. The two journalists each have media votes, and although they are not representative of all media choices, they also have a certain degree of reference. Everything is their prediction based on the situation of the season.
This can be seen that Harden's position in the hearts of the media is lower than that of Trae Young. Over the past few seasons, Harden has been less popular with the media. In the previous All-Star first round of open votes, Harden received 890,000 votes, the second place in the Eastern Guard, but he has a gap of nearly 500,000 yuan with DeRozan in the first place, leading no. 3 Trae Young with less than 30,000 votes and 120,000 votes ahead of Fourth Place LaVine. It can be seen that Harden's position in the second place is not secure.
This season, Ha has averaged 22.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 1.3 steals, and can shoot 2.4 three-pointers per game. His current Nets are in Second Place in the East with a record of 25 wins and 14 losses. From the team's record and Harden's personal data, there is no reason not to choose him. But many of Harden's stats are actually new lows in recent years, and the shooting rate of 41.7% is the lowest since the rookie season. Harden has also shown fatigue on the field recently, scoring less than 20 in 3 of his last 4 games, losing 5 of his last 7 games, and facing the top 4 teams in the East and West. These are the main factors that hinder Harden's selection as an All-Star.
Compared to Harden, Nets fans seem to need Irving's help for the team more. Even though Irving has only played one game before, Irving's All-Star vote is high in the 6th place at the Eastern Conference guard. The defensive rivalry in the East now looks far bigger than expected. Although Harden is the second in charge of the Second Nets in the East, in fact, the Nets' current record is not stable, they and the 3rd Heat are only 0.5 wins away, and the Bucks, Philadelphia and Cavaliers behind them are all eyeing them.
Harden's All-Star rivals are Trae Young, VanVleet, Holliday, LaVine and LaMello Pohr. Do you think he can beat the above players and be named to the All-Star Team for the 10th consecutive time?
(Text/Yuwen Basketball)