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Duke Basketball Product on Snub by NBA Coaches: 'That's Crazy'
One-time NBA All-Star Brandon Ingram (2020) didn't become a second-timer this year. No, only two former Duke basketball players got the nod: Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum as a starter and Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero as a reserve.
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But Ingram, not to mention a New Orleans Pelicans co-star and fellow one-and-done Blue Devil forward in Zion Williamson, seemed deserving.
After all, entering Friday night's showdown at the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise that drafted him No. 2 overall in 2016, the 26-year-old midrange genius from Kinston, N.C., has averaged 21.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists across 47 appearances.
And he's done so for a Pelicans squad sitting at No. 6 in the Western Conference standings at 30-21.
Williamson, who went No. 1 to the Pelicans in 2019 following his brilliant Duke basketball campaign, is putting up similar lofty averages (22.1 points, 5.4 boards, 4.8 dimes), albeit in slightly fewer outings (41).
"I don't know how it's voted," Ingram confessed to Sportskeeda's Mark Medina this week. "But it's voted by all people, right?"
Nope. That's just for the starters. When Medina informed him that it's the coaches who vote on the reserves for the All-Star Game (Feb. 18 in Indianapolis), it sounds like Ingram entered a state of comic disbelief.
"That's crazy because the coverages from the coaches, they all send double-teams at me," he explained to Messina while laughing at the apparent contradiction. "Yet, they don't vote me for All-Star."
Again, that voting nugget caught Brandon Ingram by surprise. On the other hand, he pointed out to Medina that, given the relatively even distribution of wealth among the top three stars in New Orleans and the fact they're still just knocking on the door of becoming a top title contender, he wasn't shocked by the All-Star snub this go-round.
"I'm playing with two other stars," Ingram humbly noted, referring to two-time All-Star Williamson (2021, 2023) and veteran potent guard CJ McCollum. "Our numbers are all down. Everybody is averaging a little bit above 20 [points], and we're sixth in the West. We're not top five in the West. So, I knew already I wasn't going to be an All-Star."
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