Paul Pierce Isn't An All-Star

Chris Forsberg reports:

Pierce left off All-Star reserves - Chris Forsberg - ESPN Boston

For only the second time in the past 12 seasons, Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce was not elected an All-Star reserve in voting by NBA head coaches.

The Eastern Conference's seven reserve spots went to Miami's Chris Bosh, New York's Tyson Chandler, Indiana's Paul George, Philadelphia's Jrue Holiday, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, and Chicago's Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.

Pierce, a 10-time All-Star, was not selected for the first time since his injury-detoured 2006-07 season. Pierce made five straight games starting in 2002, then made five more in a row from 2008-2012.

Struggling with his shot and leading Boston in minutes played, Pierce will get some much-deserved rest over All-Star weekend. Teammates Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett were fan-voted starters and are headed to Houston to represent the East.

An injury could always open the door for a commissioner-elected replacement, but given Boston's 20-21 record as the midseason exhibition approaches, Pierce's best chance was likely to sneak in through the coaches' vote.

Fans and pundits can quibble about whether Pierce was more deserving than Luol Deng or Paul George. In the end, though, Pierce's fate was probably sealed when KG and Rondo were selected for the game. With the Celtics under .500, it's likely that the coaches decided that the team just wasn't deserving of three all-stars.

As others have alluded to, there's a silver lining to this: Pierce should have All-Star weekend off, to rest and to hopefully regain his jump shot.

In other news, Steph Curry didn't make the West All-Stars. If anybody has a gripe about being snubbed, it's probably him.