Kyle Lowry is going to make the All-Star team this year. That much is certain for the Toronto Raptors guard.
The lead man in the league’s top-rated offense thus far, Lowry is putting together a superb campaign with averages of 20.6 points, 7.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. He’s been excellent so far this season, and has even been mentioned as a fringe MVP candidate.
The issue here is that Kyle Lowry did not make the All-Star team last season, when he turned in a similarly-sound package of contributions. He’s also fourth in All-Star game voting amongst guards in the East, which means if the voting pattern continues apace, Eastern (usually assistant) coaches will have to be the ones to vote to award him a spot on the All-Star reserves.
Dwane Casey, the Raptors much-lauded coach, has a message for those coaches on the fence. From The Sports Network’s Josh Lewenberg:
"I hope our fans get out and vote and don't put it in the hands of the coaches. And if the coaches don't do it, I'm probably going to get in a physical fight with those guys."
Here’s the odd thing: Lowry’s fourth ranking is almost a bit of a surprise. A surprise that he’s even that high, even though he’s played this brilliant brand of basketball so far.
Fan voting typically turns into a popularity contest, one that sometimes sends one of the five most famous names into the starting lineup, regardless of how well they’ve played that year. In the East alone stars or former stars like Grant Hill (in a year where he played four games), Anfernee Hardaway, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson and even Michael Jordan (in his first year back with the Washington Wizards) have been awarded a spot over more deserving players. Toronto is a huge city with a massive, rabid and intelligent fan base, but the Raptor players are usually under-represented when it comes time to talk about the rest of the NBA.
For Lowry to be ranked this high so far is actually pretty warming; and you can make credible arguments for the starters perched ahead of him – John Wall and even the oft-aching Dwyane Wade are having fantastic seasons so far. Kyrie Irving, ranked third, won the All-Star Game MVP last year. The fans didn’t do what they too often do, thankfully, which is vote in someone like the struggling Derrick Rose.
In fact, the Raptors’ fan base has done its job so far. Lowry is ranked fourth, fellow Raptor DeMar DeRozan is ranked seventh amongst guards despite missing over a month with a frightening groin injury, and even reserve Lou Williams (having a very good year, but still …) is ranked eighth. The North is getting loud.
It’s those coaches, though. The ones that didn’t vote Lowry in last year when he clearly deserved it.
Prior to last season, Lowry had as a big a reputation for his clashes with coaches as he did working as a super-efficient, all-around guard. Old reps die hard, and the league’s head coaches (and, more than likely, assistant coaches) denied Lowry a spot on the All-Star reserves mostly as a result. Despite his stellar play in 2013-14 and in spite of his participation in a Raptor turnaround that saw the team move from a tanking rebuilding outfit full of lame ducks and into the playoff bracket by midseason.
Lowry earned that spot ahead of the very famous coach-chosen players like Joe Johnson and even ahead of teammate DeRozan, and the whiff from the misstep is probably still gnawing at Kyle and Dwane Casey. It may not have cost Lowry money (a free agent last summer, the Raptors certainly knew his worth shouldn’t have been elevated by a trip to an exhibition event, nor limited by his exclusion), but even with DeRozan’s presence at the contest it certainly added to Casey, Lowry, and Raptor fans’ insistence that the NBA family routinely overlooks its lone Canadian franchise.
The Raps are overlooked no more. They’re not on national TV as much as they should be, but they’re the lead item for national American columnists, their time at the top of the Eastern Conference (before a recent mini-swoon) was widely celebrated, and Lowry will get to wear the Eastern colors next month.
And Dwane Casey won’t have to fight anyone.
(Even though we’d really, really like to see that. Let’s all start petitioning NBA coaches to give Derrick Rose’s comeback another look.)
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
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