Eastern Conference All Star Starters

     

Written By: Spencer Teman of Swish Tribune 

     As all star weekend approaches, we take a look at the east all star starters and await the reserves to be announced later tonight. 


     The starters consist of Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. If I had to make a prediction before the season on what the east starters would look like, there probably wouldn’t be many differences as there are really no surprises in this lineup.


     I believe that the west is much more guard heavy while the east is more forward heavy. There are a couple guards in the west that deserved to be starters and if they were in the east they would make it. Same for the forwards in the east, if they were in the west they probably would’ve been put as starters.


     But enough with the logistics let’s talk about the east starters starting with Kyrie Irving. Kyrie has consistently been one of the best guards in the league and this year with the Nets he has been characteristically great. 


     With no KD in the lineup as of late, he has been their anchor and has the lethal ability to close out games for the Nets whenever he is called on. Although he was suspended by the NBA earlier in the season, Kyrie deserves his spot as an all star starter representing the East.


     Next up is Donovan Mitchell. They call him Spida for a reason as he is leading the Cavs to a top spot in the East. He’s averaging just under 28 points a game and in my opinion he has been the best guard in the East by a pretty good margin. 


     There were questions whether the Cavs were the right fit after he was acquired from the Jazz and he was a great fit. He makes this young Cavs team look like a great team and a team that can also go pretty far in the playoffs. As the best guard in the east, Donovan Mitchell deserves his all star starter spot.


     Now onto Jayson Tatum. Tatum is one of the front-runners for MVP leading his Celtics to the #1 spot in the East as well. Averaging over 31 points a game along with 9 rebounds, he has been not only one of the best players in the East but best in the NBA. 


     At just 24, this is Tatum’s fourth all-star appearance and still has a very bright future ahead of him. When people think of the Celtics, they think of legends such as Larry Bird and Bill Russell, but soon they will think of Jayson Tatum as he has the potential to be one of the best players in the historic Celtics organization. Jayson Tatum as an MVP candidate most definitely deserves his all star starter spot.


     Now there hasn’t been any controversy yet with all star starters, but I think there is controversy at this spot with Kevin Durant. Not saying that Durant does not deserve his spot, but he has missed a large chunk of time in which other players have been healthy and have proved their worth. 


     For instance, for most of the season Joel Embiid has missed minimal games and has better stats than KD, yet he was not voted in as a starter. To me, this does not make sense and the NBA should implement a rule where you have to play a certain amount of games prior to the All-Star Game to be able to compete. This rule would exclude KD and let Embiid be starter. I believe that Joel Embiid should have definitely been a starter over KD for the east. 


     Finally, let’s move onto the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is one of my favorite players in the NBA and in my opinion he would’ve won the last couple MVPs if Jokic was not in the NBA. There is a conversation with several superstars in the NBA where if you took them off their respective team they would be a totally different team and this is a prime example with the Bucks.


     If you take Giannis off of this team, they are a bottom-tier team in the league and will not come close to where they are in the standings right now. Giannis as the All-Star captain of the East totally deserves his spot as a starter in the East. 


     The East starters are certainly solid and Lebron and Giannis will have some interesting decisions to make when they draft teams for the big game. 

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