Bradley Beal Said It Doesn’t Make Sense That Carmelo Was Picked Over Him For The All-Star Game

NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced earlier in the week that Carmelo Anthony would replace injured Cavs forward Kevin Love on the Eastern Conference squad for Sunday’s All-Star game.

Silver’s choice to swap in Anthony for Love meant Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal was left out, despite playing a major role in making the Wizards one of the hottest teams in the league of late. On Thursday, Beal voiced his frustrations to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post, making sure not to come off as anti-Anthony, but still noting that he felt he was more than deserving of the spot.

“I’ll never say a player doesn’t deserve to be on the All-Star team,” said Beal. “For one, Carmelo is a great player. Hell, he’s been one of the best offensive threats in the league for years now, and I’m taking absolutely nothing away from him. But the process of it does not make sense. If they reward winning, then I don’t understand how the decision was made. It was kind of weird to me.”

Beal’s objections are understandable. His stats (22.2 points, 3.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game) are close to Anthony’s (23.4 points, 2.9 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game) and he’s doing it while being far more efficient (56 eFG% to 49.9 eFG%) on a far better team. However, Anthony is a veteran of the All-Star game and one of the NBA’s biggest stars, so it makes sense that the commissioner would select him. Silver also has the out, if asked if Anthony’s popularity played a role, of pointing to the raw stats and noting that he replaced a forward with a forward to keep the roster as is.

That won’t do anything to put Beal’s mind at ease or satisfy fans and teammates that feel he’s more deserving of Anthony, such as Markieff Morris who believes this is all an issue of the NBA playing politics to get a big star in the All-Star game.

Beal will have to settle for a week off to recover ahead of the home stretch of the season as the Wizards look to lock up one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.