76ers' Doc Rivers Calls For Change in All-Star Selection
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On Thursday, the NBA announced the starters for the upcoming All-Star game in Salt Lake City.
The Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant, Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, and captain Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks were among those named for the Eastern Conference's frontcourt, with Philadelphia 76ers' center Joel Embiid being left out for the first time since his first All-Star nomination in 2018.
The snubbing came as a surprise to many Sixers fans as Embiid has been on a tear recently, putting up an average of 34 points and ten rebounds since the start of the month, with his average scoring numbers leading the NBA in January.
On Sunday, Embiid showed fans around the world why he deserved to be named a starter, as he went head to head with defending back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, dropping a resounding 47 points and 18 rebounds, to the Joker's 24 points near triple-double.
While Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers doesn't think that Embiid played with extra motivation in his first game out since being left out, he does think the NBA should change the way in which they go about selecting the teams.
"I think we should vote for the top 24 players, no conference, no nothing..." Rivers stated, "Clearly there are incentives with guy's contracts, you'd have to work that out, still you can have two starting lineups with the top ten players are the starters, I think Joel would be in that."
As it stands, the NBA's voting rules for the All-Star game have fan voting making up half of the overall votes, with the players and selected media making up 25 percent respectively.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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