The NBA All Star reserves have been announced, and while DeAndre Jordan of the LA Clippers did not make it his coach Doc Rivers and teammate Chris Paul believe the shot-blocking center deserves a spot in the mid-season classic.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Rivers admitted he had campaigned Jordan among his fellow Western Conference coaches in the hopes of his player getting voted as a reserve in the West.
"I got a great response," Rivers said, "but that's why you go under a curtain and you vote for real because [they say], 'Yeah, I'm going to vote for him' and then they [pull] that other lever."
Rivers though admitted that Jordan getting selected as an All-Star was a long shot. "It's going to be a tough one. There's just a lot of guys at that position, the four-five."
Jordan is the league leader in field goal percentage, making 64.5% of his shots from the floor and also leads the NBA in rebounds. He ranks fourth in blocks with 2.4 swats a game and is averaging a career-best 9.5 points a game.
Although his numbers are impressive, Jordan was left out of the ballot. Aside from starters Kevin Love, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin, composing the frontline for the West are veterans Dirk Nowitzki, LaMarcus Aldridge and Dwight Howard.
Still, there's a chance that Jordan will be an All-Star this year if he is named as a replacement to the injured Kobe Bryant. Also, Jordan's teammate Paul said he is not sure yet if he will be playing in the All-Star game as he is recovering from an injured shoulder. But if he is not able to compete, Paul said he wants Jordan to replace him in the line-up per Yahoo! Sports.
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