The NBA season is already halfway over, and boy what a season it has been. With many players simply obliterating that stat books, fans had to make the choice to pick who would be on the all-star teams, this all-star game being held in New Orleans. The fans have spoken, and the rosters were released with the starters. The conference with the probably the most talent is the western conference, and all that talent coming from the backcourt. With backcourt players like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, and C.J McCollum, fans were given the difficult task to pick who would start.

There is no right decision, but what turned out truly wasn't the logical decision. Steph Curry and James Harden are your starters for the western conference backcourt, as Oklahoma City guard and triple-double machine, Russell Westbrook is coming off the bench. This is by far the craziest result anyone expected, but the people have spoken.

How exactly did this happen?

So how exactly did a stat sheet stuffer like Russell Westbrook not get into the starting lineup for the all-star game? To simply put it, the fans broke the tie. It was a three person race for the two starting guard spots. It was between Westbrook, Curry, and Harden. All three players had a weighted score of 2.0 (see the tweet below from @SportsCenter).

With all three players being tied with that score, the tie breaker was based on the fan voting. Stephen Curry was ranked first in fan voting and Harden was ranked second and Westbrook being ranked third. So just like that, Westbrook who is having the best season out of the three by far is left coming off the bench for the all-star game.

While being ranked third in fan voting, Westbrook was ranked first in player voting and first in media voting. So why is the fan vote the tie breaker over the media or even the player vote? Fans are more important because they are the recipients of the product being produced to them.

Statistically, this is a wrong move

Having Westbrook on the bench to start (because he won't be there all game) the all-star game, is simply wrong.

The stats prove that Westbrook should've been a starter in the all-star game. Westbrook is flirting with history halfway in the season, averaging a triple double. Only one other play has been able to average a triple double in a season, and his name is Oscar Robertson. He currently has 21 triple doubles this season, the next closest is Harden with 13. With his 21 triple doubles coming halfway into the season, he is on pace to break Oscar Robertson's record for most triple doubles in a season (41). Not to mention, he is carrying an Oklahoma City team who just lost a former MVP in Kevin Durant to a 25-19 record which puts them seventh in the conference. He has a PER (play efficiency rating) of 29.56, which is awesome.

He leads the NBA in PPG, averaging 30.6 per game. With all those stats, how is Westbrook not a starter? Russell Westbrook is having a far better season than Curry, so if anything, Curry should be off the bench. In the end, it's about what the fans want, because they are the one paying to watch the game so if fans want to snub Westbrook out of his starting spot, then fine. Westbrook will remember this, and don't expect him to take this lightly. He is already on his revenge tour, and with him not starting, that just might put even more fire under him and he will explode even more, tearing apart opponents and the stat and history books in the process. You have been warned NBA fans.
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