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Why Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has NBA All-Star starter case over Stephen Curry

joe mussatto, oklahoman
·4 min read
31

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was not among the All-Star starters revealed Thursday night on TNT.

No surprise. Of the two Western Conference starting guard spots, one was guaranteed to go to Dallas’ Luka Doncic. The other spot was a perceived fight between Gilgeous-Alexander and Golden State’s Stephen Curry — at least that’s what it seemed like.

But Gilgeous-Alexander finished fourth among Western Conference guard voting behind Curry, Doncic and Grizzlies star Ja Morant. All three voting factions — fans, players and media — voted Gilgeous-Alexander fourth.

Fans accounted for 50% of the All-Star starters vote while players (25%) and media (25%) accounted for the other 50%.

On my media ballot, I voted Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander as the starting guards to represent the west (although the game isn’t East vs. West anymore), with the decision coming down to Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Curry.

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Case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over Stephen Curry

Here’s why I went with SGA over Curry — a debate with no wrong answer.

Gilgeous-Alexander: 30.8 pts, 51.1 FG%, 36.1 3FG%, 4.8 reb, 5.6 ast, 1.7 stl, 1.1 blk

Stephen Curry: 29.3 pts, 48.7 FG%, 42.0 3FG%, 6.2 reb, 6.2 ast, 1.0 stl, 0.4 blk

Pretty close traditional stats, right? SGA has the edge in scoring, field goal percentage, steals and blocks. Curry has the obvious 3-point edge with better assist and rebounding numbers.

As far as team context, the Warriors have a one-game lead over the Thunder as of Thursday when the starters were announced.

Now for some advanced stats.

SGA is fourth in Basketball Reference’s player efficiency rating (PER). Curry is 11th.

Curry is 14th in true shooting percentage. SGA is 33rd.

SGA is third in win shares. Curry is 24th.

SGA is third in value over replacement player (VORP). Curry is 13th.

Curry is fourth in box plus/minus. SGA is sixth.

Close again, but SGA has the overall edge in advanced stats categories.

But here’s the main reason I voted Gilgeous-Alexander as a starter over Curry.

Gilgeous-Alexander has played in 44 games (1,567 minutes). Curry has played in 33 games (1,136) minutes.

That’s a 431-minute edge for SGA. Gilgeous-Alexander is 22nd in the NBA in total minutes. Curry is 129th.

There’s no criteria that guides All-Star voting, but when two players are close in production, availability is my go-to tiebreaker.

Now, All-Star voting isn’t nearly as serious as All-NBA voting. The All-Star game is about entertainment. Curry is a better draw than SGA. It’s the reason Zion Williamson was voted as a starter despite only playing in 29 games.

I didn’t vote for Williamson, but I understand why 4.2 million fans did. In an All-Star context, would you rather watch Williamson dunk or Domantas Sabonis grab a contested rebound?

Gilgeous-Alexander is going to make his All-Star debut Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. It’s just going to be as a reserve, which will be decided by the coaches’ vote.

The record books don’t distinguish between All-Star starters and All-Star reserves. It’s about All-Star appearances, and Gilgeous-Alexander is about to have a “one” next to his name.

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2023 NBA All-Star starters

West

G: Stephen Curry, Warriors

G: Luka Doncic, Mavericks

F: Zion Williamson, Pelicans

F: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

F: LeBron James, Lakers

East

G: Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers

G: Kyrie Iriving, Nets

F: Jayson Tatum, Celtics

F: Kevin Durant, Nets

F: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

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Thunder All-Star voting (fan votes)

  • 1. Gilgeous-Alexander: 2,107,557

  • 2. Giddey: 92,677

  • 3. Pokusevski: 52,907

  • 4. Robinson-Earl: 38,395

  • 5. Bazley: 32,266

  • 6. Dort: 11,456

  • 7. Holmgren: 10,773

  • 8. Muscala: 9,906

  • 9. Jaylin Williams: 5,449

  • 10. Jalen Williams: 3,414

  • 11. Waters: 2,711

  • 12. Omoruyi: 2,263

  • 13. Dieng: 2,129

  • 14. Joe: 1,255

  • 15. Mann: 1,218

  • 16. Wiggins: 958

  • 17. Kenrich Williams: 696

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Thunder All-Star voting (player votes)

  • 1. Gilgeous-Alexander: 62

  • 2. Giddey: 13

  • 3. Bazley: 8

  • T4. Holmgren: 4

  • T4. Pokusevski: 4

  • T4. Dieng: 4

  • 7. Robinson-Earl: 3

  • T8. Jaylin Williams: 2

  • T8. Muscala: 2

  • T8. Waters: 2

  • T8. Kenrich Williams: 2

  • T8. Wiggins: 2

  • T8. Dort: 1

  • T8. Joe: 1

  • T8. Mann: 1

  • Jalen Williams: 0

  • Omoruyi: 0

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Follow the Thunder Buddies podcast

The Thunder Buddies podcast is back for another season but this time with a twist. The format will switch from a postgame podcast to a twice-a-week broadcast. Check out the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Omny.fm.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: NBA All-Star Game; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has case over Stephen Curry