Gobert and Wembanyama miss the cut, no French at the All Star Game

2024-02-02 00:59:46

The coaches did not retain Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama at ASG. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP

A week after that of the starters, the list of replacements for the All Star Game was revealed on Thursday. Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell are there, not the two Frenchmen.

A Frenchman at the 2024 All Star Game, February 18 in Indianapolis? It’s no. Author of a big month of January, enough to win the title of rookie of the month in the West, Victor Wembanyama could dream of a first selection. Keystone of the best defense in the League and leader in the West, Rudy Gobert, even more so. However, neither of the two tricolor interiors appears on the list of substitutes for the all-star game. List revealed this Thursday on TNT, a week after that of the holders. The coaches preferred Anthony Davis (LA Lakers), Kawhi Leonard, Paul George (LA Clippers) and Karl Anthony Towns (Minnesota) on the wing and interior positions, as well as Stephen Curry (Golden State), Devin Booker ( Phoenix) and Anthony Edwards (Minnesota) for the back line. Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento), James Harden (LA Clippers) and Kyrie Irving (Dallas) also remain docked in the West, like “Wemby” and Gobert.

Remember that coaches are asked to vote for seven replacements per Conference, including three in the “frontcourt” category (wingers, strong wingers, pivots), two in the “backcourt” (leaders, rearguards) and two “wild cards”. Nikola Jokic (Denver), Kevin Durant (Phoenix), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) and Luka Doncic (Dallas) for their part were nominated by a combination of votes from the public (50%), players (25%) and journalists (25%) to accompany LeBron James (LA Lakers) in the major five of the Western Conference. 20th selection for the “King”, a record, one more.

Embiid package?

Who in the East will replace the starters that will be Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard (Milwaukee), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia), Jayson Tatum (Boston) and the regional Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana)? Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle (New York), Jaylen Brown (Boston), Bam Adebayo (Miami), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland), Paulo Banchero (Orlando) and Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia) were called up. Not Trae Young (Atlanta) or Jimmy Butler (Miami). Embiid suffers from a torn meniscus in his knee, we learned Thursday evening. The duration of his unavailability is not known. In the event of a withdrawal, Adam Silver himself is responsible for calling a replacement.

Let’s see who the big boss would select in the event of a long-term absence of the future player from the American selection. One thing is certain: it would be a player from the Eastern Conference, and therefore not Wembanyama or Gobert. The latter must also have it bad, he whose impact is never recognized at its true value. Except when awarding him the title of best defender in the league… Already three times. The former Choletais is the big favorite for a fourth crown, which would be a record. Here, the coaches undoubtedly favored the statistics of his teammate “KAT”, refusing to send three players from Minnesota to Indianapolis. Infuriating. Downright unfair? Remember that Gobert has honored three selections in the All-Star game so far, all with the Utah Jazz, becoming the third Frenchman to participate in the event after Tony Parker (6 selections) and Joakim Noah (2).

Note that Victor Wembanyama, who is certainly paying for the poor results of his team, the Spurs being last in the Western Conference standings, will in any case be in Indiana: his presence at the Rising Stars Challenge (with Bilal Coulibaly) is already recorded and he confirmed his participation in the Skills Challenge at a press conference recently.