The NBA unveiled the “reserves” for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game on Thursday evening, finalizing the 24-man player pool. And for the first time in the 2020s, no Dallas Maverick was selected, as Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic weren’t chosen by the NBA coaches, despite both finishing in the top six of Western Conference guard voting.

Doncic’s exclusion wasn’t a surprise; he’s been hurt since Christmas Day with a calf strain and has played in just 22 of Dallas’ 49 games to this point. There’s no games-played requirement for the All-Star Game like there is with postseason awards, so Doncic technically could’ve been selected, but it’ll also give him another week to rest.

Irving’s exclusion was shocking to many people around the NBA, including former NBA Champion and a former teammate of Kyrie Irving, Kendrick Perkins. He had this to say on ESPN

“I look at a guy like Steph Curry making the All-Star Game this season, and I look at a lot of guys like Kyrie Irving, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, just in this conference who had better seasons, or are playing better than [Curry]. I’m going to say the quiet thing out loud: Steph Curry should not be an All-Star. He shouldn’t! No matter what the fans want, no matter what the coaches want, no matter what we want to see, you still have to earn to be an All-Star by your production. And if you’re looking at the production around the league, it’s guys in the Western Conference that have better numbers than Steph, and their teams are in better positions than Steph.”

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Comparing just Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving, Perkins has a point. Irving is averaging 24.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 4.6 APG while shooting nearly 50/40/90, while Curry is at 22.1 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 4.6 RPG, but isn’t as efficient from three or the floor as Irving is (the degree of difficulty on Curry’s threes are higher, for what it’s worth).

Irving also has the Mavericks at 26-23, sitting 9th in the Western Conference, while Curry’s Warriors are 24-24 in 11th. At the very least, it’s neck and neck, but Curry was voted as a starter, while Irving will be spending the week at home, barring an injury replacement being needed.

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