What was a tragic situation for one star player led to a great honor for another, as the NBA named Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez to replace injured point guard Rajon Rondo on the Eastern Conference All-Star Team for the Feb. 17 NBA All Star Game.
Lopez has been dominant for the Nets all season, averaging 18.6 points with 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots and providing the Nets with one of the best centers in the East thus far.
Despite those stats, Lopez was snubbed by the coaches, who picked the reserves for each team, during the picking of the NBA All-Star reserves for the 62nd annual All-Star Game, to be played in Houston this year.
In spite of Brooklyn posting a stellar 27-19 record and only 2 and a half games behind New York in the Atlantic Division race, no Nets player was chosen for the All-Star Game. The theory was that this was the coaches' way of punishing the Nets players for the firing of coach Avery Johnson earlier this month, with rumors of Nets star Deron Williams being unhappy playing under Johnson.
However, an opening on the team occurred after Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo tore his ACL in a game last week against Atlanta, leaving him out for the season. As a result, NBA Commissioner David Stern picked Lopez to make the All-Star team for the first time in his five-year career.
The selection makes Lopez the 13th All-Star in Nets history and the first chosen since the Nets moved to Brooklyn at the end of last season from New Jersey.
His new coach, P.J. Carlesimo, couldn't be happier.
"It's validating and I think hopefully it'll be a positive for him going forward," Carlesimo told ESPN. "He should be proud, he should be very proud. He's made a commitment on defense and he's making a much more concerted effort to rebound."