The All-Star Weekend festivities — not the game, but all the other stuff — will be at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Mason Plumlee, reportedly, will join in on the Dunk Contest. He’ll also likely in the “Rising Stars” Rookie-Sophomore game that pits US-born rookies & sophomores against those from around the world.
But the game itself? Well… That’ll be in Manhattan, at Madison Square Garden. Expect to see as many Nets players as you usually would there.
The NBA released the official Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Star starting lineups, and as you might expect, no Nets came close to earning a starting spot, with John Wall, Kyle Lowry, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Pau Gasol representing the East. Even in a depleted Eastern Conference, it’s hard to imagine the coaches voting for any Nets players to make the reserve squad, unless Mason Plumlee pulls off the upset of the century.
Fans vote to select the starting 5, and Kevin Garnett was Brooklyn’s leading vote-getter, ranking 13th among Eastern Conference frontcourt players, garnering 106,820 votes. “Frontcourt” includes small forwards, power forwards, and centers, which puts centers like Mason Plumlee and Brook Lopez at a disadvantage. In the past, centers had their own separate designation from the rest of the frontcourt.
Garnett’s been known more for his on-court head-butts and bites than his production this season, and his votes came as residual from a rabid fanbase of fans who have followed the 38-year-old throughout his 20-year career. He’s averaged 7.0 points and 7.2 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game this season, a slight uptick from his numbers last season, but well below the All-Star and MVP-caliber numbers he put up in his prime.
