A season full of ups and downs for the Indiana Pacers and Domantas Sabonis is nearing the halfway point. That also means that it’s time for the All-Star teams to be announced, leaving Pacers fans hoping for a back-to-back appearance from Sabonis.
Sabonis has been the key to Indiana’s success for much of this season. He leads the team with 11.6 rebounds and is second on the team in scoring at 21.5 points per game. His success has been tied to the team’s success, which we have seen over the past few weeks.
When Sabonis has an off night, the Pacers struggle to win games. On the other hand, Indiana typically competes when Sabonis plays to his caliber. However, his performance was not enough to earn an All-Star bid in 2021 as others stole the spotlight.
Domantas Sabonis will not represent the Indiana Pacers in the 2021 NBA All-Star game.
The Eastern Conference is a bit underwhelming on a team scale this season with several teams failing to meet expectations. The Pacers currently sit at 15-14 but are 3.5 games ahead of the 13th-place Wizards and 4.0 games behind the first-place 76ers.
Still, the individual talent out of the East this season makes this All-Star selection understandable for Sabonis and other snubs.
Sources: 2021 NBA All-Star reserves:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 23, 2021
West: Chris Paul, Paul George, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis
East: James Harden, Julius Randle, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Ben Simmons, Nikola Vucevic
Plenty of talented players were deserving of an All-Star spot this season, including Sabonis, which makes for a heartbreaking process for those who don’t get selected. Julius Randle and Nikola Vucevic earned reserve bids out of the East after having spectacular seasons of their own.
There is still a possibility for Sabonis to make the game due to opt-outs and injuries but he was not voted as an All-Star around the league. This does not take away from the season he is having, nor should it be an indication that the league has it out for Indiana.
Randle and Vucevic are both very much deserving of their bids and Sabonis happened to be the odd man out this season. At just 24 years old, Sabonis has plenty of time to get back into the All-Star Game and we should expect him to be a staple of All-Star discussions for a while.