NBA
Sabonis, Ball Amongst The Biggest Snubs For 2025 NBA All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star rosters are finally set, as the league announced the reserves for the mid-season games that will be played on February 16th. There are notable snubs every year, guys who put up big numbers but are left out of the honors, and the 2024-25 season is no different.
Who Are The Biggest Snubs For The 2025 NBA All-Star Game?
Who are the victims this season? Here are four players who have a legit argument for a spot, but just missed the cut for the 2025 NBA All-Star game:
Domantas Sabonis
The most egregious omission comes out of the Western Conference. Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis was on the list of notable snubs last year, and came back in 2024-25 by putting up even better numbers while enjoying a carer year statistically. His 14.5 rebounds per game is the best out of any player in the league, and he ranked 13th overall in assists per game, more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Stephen Curry. His three-point percentage is at a wildly impressive 48.1%, which is the second-best mark of any shooter in the NBA.
There is a good chance that Sabonis will finish in the top-10 in MVP voting, and likely that he’ll make an All-NBA team for the third time in a row. But leaving a player of his caliber out of the All-Star game is perhaps the most notable snub of them all this year.
LaMelo Ball
Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is having a career year, but it apparently isn’t enough for him to get an All-Star nod in the Eastern Conference. His 28.2 points per game ranks 4th in the league overall, and is nearly 5 points higher than his average from a season ago. Ball distributes the rock as well, currently ranking 7th in the assists per game department at 7.3.
There are two issues, though. Ball struggles with efficiency, as he shoots more 3-pointers per game than any player in the league, and makes them at just a 33.7% clip. That combined with the Hornets being tied for the third-fewest wins contributes to the All-Star snub.
Trae Young
The leader in assists in the NBA will be missing out on the festivities for just the third time in his career, as Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks has been left off of the All-Star roster. That assist-per-game figure has risen every year that he’s been in the league, and was named as a reserve during this time last season.
But Young is making just 40.2% of his field goals overall in 2024-25, and the Hawks have lost six games in a row at the time of writing, sitting in 9th place in the East. The reserves are selected by the coaches around the league, which could help explain Young’s snub this year; four players who made the team finished below him in the fan voting portion of the polling.
Norman Powell
The Clippers have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season, and Norman Powell has been a big reason why. After finishing in 4th place in the Most Improved Player voting each of the last two seasons, he is up for the award again, averaging 24 points on nearly 50% shooting from the field.
The trouble with Powell’s bid is his inability to fill up the stat sheet as other players do, averaging 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. But an argument could be made on his behalf, even over teammate James Harden, who was named to his first All-Star game since 2021-22.