Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t make All-Star team
Dirk Nowitzki will not be making a 14th appearance in the NBA All-Star Game when the league’s midseason classic is played on Feb. 14 in Toronto.
In voting by the Western Conference coaches revealed Thursday on TNT, the Dallas Mavericks’ 18-year veteran was not among the seven reserves named to the 12-man team that includes starters Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs, and the Oklahoma City duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
The Western Conference reserves named Thursday are Draymond Green and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, James Harden of the Houston Rockets, DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings and Chris Paul of the LA Clippers.
The reserves for the Eastern Conference are Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, Washington’s John Wall, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Atlanta’s Paul Millsap, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas and Miami’s Chris Bosh. They’ll join the five starters: Cleveland’s LeBron James, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Indiana’s Paul George, Miami’s Dwyane Wade and New York’s Carmelo Anthony.
The Mavericks were holding out hope that Nowitzki would be able to add to his legacy by securing another All-Star berth. Nowitzki, 37, made the All-Star team from 2002-12 and also the past two seasons.
Owner Mark Cuban used his Twitter account to tweet: “Not happy that @swish41 didn’t make the All Star Squad.”
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he didn’t campaign for Nowitzki to collect an All-Star berth this year.
“I don’t campaign for guys,” Carlisle said before Wednesday’s game against Golden State. “I think guys make it on their merits or they don’t.”
Nowitzki leads the Mavs in scoring with 17.6 points per game, and averages 6.7 rebounds while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, center Zaza Pachulia was less than 15,000 votes away from being named a starter.
“It speaks to the depth of talent we have in this league,” Carlisle said. “There’s a lot of successful teams now and there’s some guys now that are really coming into their own as great players, so it’s an exciting time in the NBA.”
Parsons’ success
Although the Mavs are only 7-9 this month, Chandler Parsons has flourished.
The fifth-year veteran is averaging 25.4 points and seven rebounds with four turnovers in 37.8 minutes over the past five games. During that span the Florida native also is 44-of-75 from the field (58.7 percent), and 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) on 3-pointers.
Some of Parsons’ success has come when he slid over to play power forward.
“He’s running around out there with bigger guys trying to chase him, so it’s been good,” Carlisle said. “It’s challenging from the standpoint of now he’s dealing with guys that are bigger, he’s got a greater rebounding responsibility.
“He’s doing a lot of good things, and I think it also speaks to his flexibility as a player that he can go from [small forward] to [power forward]. And he can be a point power forward at times, because he handles the ball so well.”
Briefly
▪ Pachulia (sore left Achilles) and guard Devin Harris (sprained left great toe) are questionable for Friday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.
▪ In their busiest month of the season, the Mavericks have only two more games remaining in January. In addition to Friday’s game, they’ll also host Phoenix on Sunday.
Dwain Price: 817-390-7760, @dwainprice
Nets at Mavericks
7:30 p.m. Friday, FSSW
This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t make All-Star team."