One of the biggest snubs of the NBA starting lineups for the All-Star Game was Kyrie Irving getting the all-star starter role, while the Pacers’ Haliburton was relegated to the reserve role, even though the media and Haliburton’s numbers suggest he was the much better choice.
However, things change quickly in the NBA, and recent events are no exception.
Steph Curry will be sidelined for an extended amount of time per Shams:
This means that there will be a starting role on the Western Conference side of the equation up for grabs. The NBA will have some options as to what to do with the opening, but I would suggest (in my unbiased Pacers opinion), that another recent event solves the problem.
Kyrie Irving was traded to the Mavericks in one of the most baffling fits in the NBA you will see (why does Dallas need two ball-dominant point guards?). This immediately solves the Western conferences problem given Kyrie was voted a starter and now plays in the Western conference.
This then leaves an opening for starting in the Eastern conference, which, given that Haliburton should have been the starter to begin with, allows the NBA to rectify an error they had originally (namely have abhorrent rules for all-star voting).
Tyrese has recently come back from injury and is playing back at an all-NBA level again. He even got high praise from Lebron James after his recent game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
So in short, here is the logic.
Curry got injured and the Western conference starters now have a hole.
Kyrie got traded and no longer should be an Eastern conference starter, but could fill the role in the Western conference (who really cares though?)
And thus…
Tyrese Haliburton should slide into the starting role in the All-Star game.
Do you think this would be an equitable way of fixing the situation? Let us know in the comments below.