Embiid might wind up finishing ahead of all three in Kia MVP or All-NBA balloting, but by the voting deadline, he had appeared in the fewest games of the four.
In this case, he had played in fewer games than the other two and he couldn’t stop the Nets’ sag last week when Durant went out.
It’s a crowded field but I hope he gets the recognition from the East coaches to be part of the proceedings in Salt Lake City.
The final spot came down to Durant and Antetokounmpo, who are both worthy of the starting nod behind their play on both ends of the floor.
While the frontcourt decision was tough, the backcourt selections were much easier.
If there is one team that deserves two All-Star starters, it is the league-leading Celtics as Brown and Tatum have established themselves as the top-scoring duo in the league at 57.9 combined ppg.
Durant has averaged 29.7 points on a career-high 55.9% clip, his best scoring output since collecting the Kia NBA MVP trophy in 2014 with Oklahoma City .
After showing mixed progress with coexisting with Tatum at the beginning of last season, Brown has mastered how to complement Tatum and ease his burden.
Embiid and Giannis have been terrific at both ends of the floor, while Tatum has returned strong from a faulty performance in the 2022 Finals.
But when my ballot was submitted, he was last among the four in both total minutes played and true shooting percentage , having seen a pretty big drop from the last four seasons in regard to the latter.
Donovan Mitchell has combined high usage with high efficiency, while Jaylen Brown’s defense and the Celtics’ team success give him the edge over the other candidates.
All four of those players are worthy starters for the East squad, and each rank as the leading scorers for the top four seeds in the conference going into Tuesday night’s action.
Mitchell started 2023 with a 71-point heater against the Chicago Bulls, becoming just the seventh player in league history to rack up at least 70 points in a game.
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