Only a week out from All-Star Weekend in New Orleans beginning on February 14th, there has been one looming question heading in: who will replace Kobe Bryant on the Western Conference roster?
New NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, answered that question today. To nobody’s surprise he picked the hometown favorite, and well deserving Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans. More from USA Today’s Sam Amick:
New Orleans @PelicansNBA F/C @AntDavis23 has been named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to replace injured West #NBAAllStar @KobeBryant.
— NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) February 7, 2014
The second-year player who was the first overall draft pick in 2012 is averaging 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.3 blocks per game. With his rarefied numbers and status as the star of the host team, as the game is in New Orleans, Davis was no surprise as the choice. He also will play in the Rising Stars Challenge game, showcasing the best rookies and second-year players.
Bryant has played in only six games this season because of his recovery from an Achilles tendon tear as well as a fractured left tibia that was suffered in mid-December. He was voted in by fans along with the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry as a starting guard.
Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul was third among Western Conference guards in votes received, but Western Conference coach Scott Brooks of the Oklahoma City Thunder has not announced who will start for Bryant.
Davis is not only more than deserving of this honor, he’s an emerging star in the league. This should be evident to anybody who follows the league or has watched him play this season. He carries unique ability and a special skillset that is rare in the NBA today.
As outlined above, his statistics for a second year player are already on par with some of the most productive stars in this league, if not more.
One of the reasons Davis has flourished so young is his offensive versatility, and his ability to take and make shots from anywhere on the court. Take a look at his shot chart below:
Davis is no lock to replace Bryant as a starter. In fact, he likely won’t. But you’ll be seeing him in this game quite often, and soon enough, he’ll be out there for the opening tip.
On a related note, while Silver’s decision to replace Bryant with Davis was widely accepted throughout the NBA, it was not a crowd pleaser around the entire globe.
Anthony Bennett Showing Signs of Life
Don’t look now, but Cleveland’s Anthony Bennett is starting to come to life.
Already pegged as the biggest bust of all-time, the 20-year old rookie has put up double digits in three of his past five games with quality rebounding numbers.
Not only have Bennett’s statistics started to improve (they are still dreadful overall, but it’s a start) but he is noticeably gaining confidence and the athleticism that led former Cavaliers GM Chris Grant to select him with the No. 1 overall pick last June.
I’m not the only one that has noticed Bennett’s revival. Here’s more from ESPN’s David Thorpe:
Bennett stands in a long line of young players who appeared to be short of the talent that the hype machine bestowed on them but eventually succeeded — many of whom became All-Stars.
Remember when Dirk Nowitzki was too soft to be an elite player and his lack of a post game would keep Dallas from ever winning a title? Or when Steph Curry was just a shooter who could never be a point guard in this league? Or when Joakim Noah didn’t have a game that could work in the pros?
Even LeBron James, the world’s best player and now a two-time champ, had to break through one obstacle after another before truly claiming his throne.
If Bennett does not get distracted by failure and instead uses it as motivation to get better, he too has the potential to one day hear his name announced to the whole world at the beginning of an All-Star Game. While it’s true that none of those players I mentioned were No. 1 picks (except LeBron) or as bad as Bennett was to start his rookie season, their breakthroughs are emblematic of what happens when off-court commentary is short-sighted. Young guys almost always get better as they mature as men and basketball players.
Thorpe keenly outlines a path for sustainable success for Bennett: get in great shape (ala Kevin Love), play athletically and energetically and embrace the paint.
If Bennett works hard, focuses and plays to his strengths, by sheer athleticism and talent alone he projects to be a solid rotation player. It’s his ceiling and hype that have skewed his expectations to an almost unreasonable status during his unpleasant rookie season. As Marc Stein notes:
So let’s just say that the work environment for Bennett’s leap into a spotlight typically reserved for the more NBA-ready Kyries and Anthony Davises hasn’t exactly been nurturing.
The kid certainly shouldn’t get a completely free pass. Not after you miss your first 16 shots as a pro and still have a stat line in February that doesn’t come close to Kwame Brown’s rookie numbers. He has plenty of work to do that only he can tackle, as our own David Thorpe neatly explains in his Bennett take Friday, starting with shedding even more weight than he’s managed to lose.
But the Cavs, until recently, haven’t committed to making sure Bennett gets the no-matter-what minutes he needs — at power forward — to transition to the NBA game and rebuild his confidence. With Gilbert’s postseason pipe dreams slipping away even in the easy East and Brown making no impact on this team defensively when that’s his supposed specialty, they would be wise to realize that salvaging something from Bennett’s rookie season should be one of the priorities from here.
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