Add Kemba Walker’s name to the list of players downplaying the importance of the NBA All-Star Game.
After his Charlotte Hornets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers by the final of 107-85 on Wednesday, Walker responded rather matter-of-factly to a question about if he thinks he should be an All-Star this season.
“Not really, if you ask me,” Walker said, per the Associated Press. “Especially because of where my team is. But like I said, I really don’t care honestly. We haven’t been doing a great job of winning consistently, [so] the All-Star game is the last thing I’m going to think about right now.”
Walker’s numbers this year are certainly All-Star caliber: 23.0 points on 46.1 percent from the field (both career-highs) to go with 4.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. But unluckily for him, he has to compete with a deep pool of Eastern Conference point guard talent that includes Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, and others. At the last All-Star voting update, Walker had 105,637 votes, ninth amongst backcourt players in the East.
Deserving guys get left off the All-Star team every year, and Walker, who seems like a longshot to be selected, even as a reserve, may fall into that category this time around. But with the Hornets currently a seventh seed at 21-21 on the year, Walker is joining an increasing number of players, this fellow Eastern star included, who are much more concerned about making the playoffs than about a meaningless exhibition game in the middle of February.
