Western Conference All-Star Predictions. Who will make it?

There is tons of talent in the league right now. So many great players are going to miss out on being selected to the NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland. In this article, I will be doing an honest prediction of the Western Conference All-Star Team.

Being an All-Star is a pretty notable accolade within the league and being an All-Star tends to mean you are either a fan favorite or an elite player or both! The 2021-22 NBA All-Star game will be taken place Sunday 20th of February during All-Star Weekend. Perhaps the most exciting weekend on the NBA calendar with events such as the Dunk Contest, Three-Point Contest, Rising Stars, Skills Challenge and of course the All-Star game itself.

The All-Star teams are voted by media, fans, players and coaches. Since this is a fan favorite event fan ballots are 50% of the vote for the starting players. The players and media make up the other 50% of the starters and the coaches vote for the reserves.

After I name the Western Conference All-Star team, I will explain my predictions and thoughts.

Let us get started!

Western Conference All-Star Team

Backcourt Starters: Stephen Curry (GSW), Chris Paul (PHX)
Frontcourt Starters: LeBron James (LAL), Nikola Jokic (DEN), Paul George (LAC)

Backcourt Reserves: Luka Doncic (DAL), Ja Morant (MEM)
Frontcourt Reserves: Karl Anthony Towns (MIN), Draymond Green (GSW), Rudy Gobert (UTA)

Darkhorse Players: Anthony Davis (LAL), Donovan Mitchell (UTA)

Let me start with Backcourt Starters. Stephen Curry is almost definitely a lock for this All-Star game unless an injury occurs. Curry is currently a frontrunner for MVP and is putting up 26.9 points along with 6.1 assists and has led the Warriors to the 1st seed in the West (23-5). Chris Paul is possibly one of the greatest leaders the game of basketball has ever seen. In the 2020-21 season, Paul led the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals but unfortunately lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. Paul leads the league in assists per game (10.1). Along with that he is putting up a notable 14.5 points and has led the Suns to the 2nd spot in the Wild Western Conference (23-5).

For the Frontcourt Starters, it was not too hard to decide. Nikola Jokic is having yet another historical season putting up crazy averages of 26.6 points, 13.6 rebounds and to top that off 7.5 assists. As of right now, it looks like he is going solo for the Nuggets trying to carry them to the playoffs as other Nuggets young stars Michael Porter Jr and Jamal Murray are out for the whole or most of the season with injuries. LeBron James being as popular and famous as, he will more or less be a lock to make the All-Star Game. He is still putting up 26.1 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and 6.9 assists per game. Paul George was cooking during the earlier parts of the season and do not get me wrong he still is but his hot hand has cooled down a bit since. George is scoring 25 points per night on 42.2% and 31.8% shooting. Paul George is averaging a career-high 5.4 assists per outing.

Backcourt Reserves was pretty hard to decide. As I said earlier, the league is full of talent this year which means a heap of good players miss out on the All-Star Game. I chose Luka Doncic as my first backcourt reserve. Doncic has been performing decently well this year but not as good as his previous 2 seasons. Doncic started the 2021-22 campaign off looking a bit chunkier than usual and still has not worked the excess weight off. This has looked like a problem for Luka as his shooting has not been as efficient as prior seasons and he has not been scoring the ball as well as in previous seasons. Ja Morant was my final Backcourt selection for the Western Conference squad. Morant has improved a fair bit this season during the 19 games he has played so far. Morant injured his knee during a game against the Hawks on the 27th of November and has been out since so hopefully when he returns he continues to perform at the level he performed prior to the injury. Morant is putting up numbers of 24.1 points, 6.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds and looks like a frontrunner for Most Improved Player Of The Year.

Selecting the Frontcourt Reserves was probably the hardest out of all. Karl Anthony Towns was an easy decision as he is performing at an elite level, with numbers such as 24.3 points, 9.0 rebounds along with 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks. Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert are both respectively having some insane and historic defensive seasons. Neither player is known for their offense but has changed the game with their defense. Undoubtedly the two Frontrunners for the Defensive Player Of The Year. I have some doubts that Gobert might not be voted into and the Fan vote might ruin it for Gobert as he is unfairly hated around the league.

The Darkhorse Players… Anthony Davis could replace Green or Gobert because of the fan vote. Los Angeles Lakers have a large fanbase and Green and Gobert are disliked around by plenty of fans so even though Davis is not having a great season, because of the fan vote Davis might get the spot. The ballot for the Guards in the West is expected to be very close and I would not be surprised if Donovan Mitchell makes it instead of Doncic or Morant.

The Eastern Conference All-Star Team Prediction will come out tomorrow! For now, here are some highlights from the 2020-21 All-Star Game.