From top to bottom, the Brooklyn Nets will find a silver lining in the NBA's All-Star selections that were revealed Thursday night.
The coaches will express thanks for the rest, the players will use the snubs as a chip on the shoulder, and the fans will use it as ammunition for why the league is biased against their team.
But the bottom line is a 26-16 team currently ranked third in the Eastern Conference has no players going to the All-Star Game. While Joe Johnson and Deron Williams may not necessarily deserve a spot in the game, there is an argument for their inclusion.
Brook Lopez's absence is an NBA crime.
Even though the All-Star Game is nothing more than a skills exhibition, Lopez has earned the right to hobnob with the league's best. He's earned the recognition among the league's elite big men. He's earned a spot in the game.
Taking away names and popularity, we'll look at two players resumes:
Player A: 17.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 25th in PER (efficiency)
Player B: 18.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 4th in PER
Drumroll, please...
Player A is Chris Bosh and Player B is Brook Lopez. Bosh will make his eighth appearance in the game, despite playing with far superior players and still possessing an inferior, albeit slightly, resume.
Lopez leads all centers, both Eastern and Western Conferences, in scoring at 18.6 ppg. Unfortunately for Lopez, the NBA did away with the center position this year for the rosters. That had little effect, though, as three true centers made the Eastern roster.
Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks and Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls will join Bosh in the frontcourt.
While John Hollinger's PER system is far from gospel, it was enough to earn him a job in the Memphis Grizzlies front office. According to PER, Lopez trails only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul.
Chandler is a little further down the list at No. 19, Bosh is No. 22, and Noah plunges to No. 78. Hollinger's rating is by no means gospel, but it does provide an example of how stats can illustrate the kind of season Lopez has had thus far.
When disregarding stats, it's no coincidence that Lopez's right foot injury occurred while the Nets imploded in December. Said implosion led to the firing of Avery Johnson.
P.J. Carlesimo argued on behalf of his players following their 91-83 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night.
"I think all three of our guys should be on, but it doesn't matter what I think," Carlesimo said. "They've made a strong case both how they've played individually and how our team has played well."
Williams and Johnson are not as clear cut, but they certainly could have made the team over players like Luol Deng and Paul George. Both have played well, but based on Johnson's fourth-quarter heroics, he could have beaten them onto the roster.
Popular thinking has the young players beating a grizzled vet in Johnson onto the roster, letting performance outweigh pedigree. That formula did not hold true for Lopez, though.
Either way, the NBA made a big miss on Lopez.
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