Following the NBA’s announcement of the All-Star game reserves, one of the most common topics of conversation around the league was the players who did not make the list.
Players like Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Austin Reaves, and Alperen Sengun did not make the All-Star teams. Meanwhile, Jalen Duren, Deni Avdija, and Jamal Murray earned their first All-Star selections.
Kawhi Leonard was arguably the most shocking snub from the reserves, considering he is averaging a career-high in points and free-throw percentage this season. Moreover, the Clippers are hosting this year’s event at the Intuit Dome.
According to Brian Windhorst, ESPN’s NBA insider, sources around the league have a perception that coaches may have intentionally kept Kawhi Leonard out of the All-Star weekend due to his potential involvement in the Aspiration controversy that came to light last summer.
“The reaction within the league has been kind of universal, within the executives that I’ve talked to, which Kawhi Leonard doesn’t make the team, okay, so that happens, players get snubbed.”
“Kawhi’s numbers are phenomenal, but the game is obviously at Intuit Dome, and they wonder if coaches didn’t vote for him due to allegations of the improper contract.”
“He’s having a brilliant season, his highest-scoring season as a Clipper. They have been one of the best teams in the league over the last six weeks,” concluded Windhorst during his appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today.
Leonard is currently averaging 27.6 points (career-high), 6.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while shooting 49.5% from the field, 39.1% from the three-point line, and 92.1% from the free-throw line (career-high) this season in 35 games played.
In basketball, VORP is an advanced statistic that indicates how well a player plays in his position over his substitute (full form: value over replacement player).
Among the top 15 players ranked in the NBA right now on the basis of VORP, 14 have made it to the All-Star list. Leonard, sixth in the rankings, was the only exclusion.
Kawhi Leonard was blackballed from an All Star game in his home arena.
Here’s the top 15 players in the NBA per VORP. Notice 14 of them are All Stars. pic.twitter.com/pjly0u17B9
— Pensare Basketball (@PensareBBall) February 2, 2026
His previous career-high was 27.1 points per game with the Clippers in the 2019-20 season. He and his teammate James Harden not making the elite list has truly stunned the league.
Former Clippers player Lou Williams believes Leonard should have made the team over Deni Avdija of the Trail Blazers. While Avdija is also having the best season of his career, Williams believes the Clippers forward deserved to be there over him.
“Got to make a case for Kawhi. All the stars aligned for him to be there. He’s a 50-40-90 for the season, averaging almost 28 points a game. And it’s in his home arena.”
“The Clippers have a better record than the Trail Blazers. I don’t want to single out Deni Avdija, but I would probably make a case for Kawhi to replace him if anybody on this list,” said Williams during FanDuel’s Run It Back show.
The Trail Blazers’ forward is currently averaging 25.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.7 assists while shooting 46.7% from the floor, 35.6% from beyond the arc, and 80.0% from the free-throw line.
Now, whether or not coaches in fact excluded him due to the allegations against him remains unknown. But the most rational explanation seems to be that Leonard was intentionally blackballed.
Do you think Leonard should dispute this exclusion? Or is it justified that Deni Avdija made the list over him? Let us know your opinions in the comments section.
