Their numbers are very comparable, although Damian Lillard’s Blazers are 18-10, while Luka Doncic’s Mavericks entered Saturday 13-15. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic admits Damian Lillard may have deserved All-Star starter spot

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 2/20/21

Luka Doncic controversially received the nod as a starter for the All-Star game over Damian Lillard, and the Dallas Mavericks guard recognizes that he may have gotten away with one.

Doncic talked on Saturday about the results of All-Star voting. He admitted he didn’t expect he would be voted a starter and acknowledged that Lillard may have deserved the honor.

Luka Doncic on All-Star voting results: “I didn’t expect that I was going to start this game. I know that maybe [Damian] Lillard deserved it more than me.”

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 20, 2021

You really can’t go wrong with either player, as they’re both great and very deserving of recognition.

Lillard is averaging: 29.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.1 steals per game and shooting 45.1/38.4/93.3 percent. Doncic is averaging: 29.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.4 assists, 1.0 steals per game and shooting 47.5/33.5/79.5 percent.

Their numbers are very comparable, although Lillard’s Blazers are 18-10, while Doncic’s Mavericks entered Saturday 13-15.

What’s interesting is that both the players and media favored Lillard over Doncic for the spot by a similar percentage. The fans, however, favored Doncic much more.

pic.twitter.com/4SRa0YVhri

— DAME FOR MVP (@FawadAaliyan) February 19, 2021

Since the All-Star Game is primarily a fan spectacle, it makes sense to give the people who they want to see as the starter when there is a close case such as this one. However, don’t worry too much about Lillard, as he had a good reaction to losing the nod.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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