Devin Booker Has Been Named Anthony Davis’ Injury Replacement For The All-Star Game

When the NBA All-Star reserves were announce on Tuesday night, a few notable names were surprisingly left off of the rosters. Among those in the West was Suns star Devin Booker, who LeBron James called the most “disrespected player” in the NBA currently.

Booker, who is averaging 24.7 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game on strong efficiency for the surging Suns, who are currently fourth in the West, was a first-time All-Star a year ago but just missed the cut this year. However, with Anthony Davis named to the team and sitting out with a right calf strain, the expectation was one West spot would still be up for grabs. On Wednesday, confirmation came from the league on that front and Booker was named the injury replacement for Davis by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The other top competition for the spot, at least in the eyes of most, was Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz, who has long been considered one of the NBA’s best players to have never made an All-Star roster, largely due to the crunch of star guards in the West where he’s spent his whole career. Conley doesn’t have the raw stats to match Booker, but his impact on the NBA’s best team has been immense and there was a push for him to get the honor for the first time in his career.

Still, it’s hard to argue with Booker, who has been especially great of late during Phoenix’s own winning streak, and he’ll join teammate Chris Paul in the backcourt for the West reserves. That should just about finalize the rosters, barring something happening in the next week-plus of games or someone pulling out for other, non-injury related reasons.