No Snub This Year: Stephen Curry Voted An All-Star Starter

December 11, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates against the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Mavericks 95-93. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

One of the great controversies of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game was the decision by Western Conference coaches not to select Golden State Warriors guardStephen Curryfor the game.

The coaches won’t get a chance to do that again this year.

Curry was voted one of the starters for the Western Conference in voting that concluded on Monday. Curry wound up with 1,047,281 votes—fourth-most of any player in the NBA—and earned one of the two starting nods in the backcourt. (h/tESPN.com)

Curry was appreciative of the selection:

Curry becomes the first Warriors voted to start an All-Star Game sinceLatrell Sprewellwas voted in by the fans in 1995.

This will be Curry’s first All-Star Game. The fifth-year guard out of Davidson is averaging 23.5 points and 9.2 assists per game and is shooting 44.2 percent overall and 38.3 percent from 3 point range while averaging 37.9 minutes per game. The spike in assists is most eye-popping—he’s increased his assists by more than two per game from last year while also increasing his scoring.

His player efficiency rating of 22.3 is 12th in the NBA and ranks second only toChris Paulof the Los Angeles Clippers among guards.

The other starters for the West include guardKobe Bryantof the Los Angeles Lakers and frontcourt playersKevin Durantof the Oklahoma City Thunder—the leading vote-getter in the West—Blake Griffinof the Clippers andKevin Loveof the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is also Love’s first All-Star start.

The Eastern starters include frontcourt playerLeBron Jamesof the Miami Heat,Paul Georgeof the Indiana Pacers andCarmelo Anthonyof the New York Knicks, withDwyane Wadeof the Heat andKyrie Irvingof the Cleveland Cavaliers selected in the backcourt.

Bryant was elected for the 16th time, second-most in NBA history, but will not play in the game because of a knee injury. OnlyKareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 19 selections by the fans, has more.

Reserves for the game will be announced next Thursday, with the head coaches in each conference selecting two guards, three frontcourt players and two other players without regard to position.

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