When Steph Curry was ruled out of the All-Star Games, an opportunity for the NBA to actually get it right by putting Stephon Castle in his place arose. They opted to go with Brandon Ingram instead, putting two Toronto players in the February festivities, as Scottie Barnes was selected. Mitch Johnson doesn't seem too happy about that.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson with one of my favorite mic drops of the season before a game lol
No one asked him about All-Star snubs, mentioned that his team isn't one of 7 with multiple All-Stars, says if Fox/Castle aren't All-Stars then Wemby MVP votes must be up pic.twitter.com/h3HaCbnsVA
— Law Murray 🏴☠️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) February 11, 2026
It's an understandable sentiment. No, it's a reassuring one. It's nice to know that the head coach has his guys' back and is willing to speak up for them. I would give Steph the nod over De'Aaron Fox because of recent play, but I Mitch is right to mention them both. The league chose to add a second player for a fifth seed in the East when the second seed in the West is right there.
The NBA has a history of overlooking the Spurs, and although they recognize the marketing potential of Victor Wembanyama, there are other players they need to pay attention to.
The NBA is never consistent with their All-Star selections
There's someone left off these teams every year. There are only so many spots, so we're bound to disagree about who doesn't get chosen. But can we have some consistency here? In years past, the commissioners have always rewarded winning teams with additional players when they get the chance to choose substitutions.
The most egregious example of this was the 2015 NBA All-Star Game that featured four Hawks players on the Eastern Conference's squad. Coach Bud had those boys humming, so it wasn't a surprise to see them land more than one guy, but having four was laughable.
Paul Millsap was their highest scorer, putting up 16.8 points per game. They actually only started with three players, but injury sidelined Dwyane Wade, so Kyle Korver was added in his place. Korver was averaging 12.1 points per game, and granted, he was shooting 52.8% from three at the time, but that's what the three-point contest is for.
Lou Williams, Kevin Love, and DeMar DeRozan all had better stats, and their teams were performing well. I didn't really see a need to add to the group of Millsap, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague. That should have been enough. But they decided to reward ATL since they were outpacing expectations at a high rate and winning the Eastern Conference.
The Spurs' success should be more notable to the NBA
Well, like Mitch said, there are seven teams with more than one player to make it. So, why is San Antonio slighted when they have a better record than everyone other than two franchises and have handed Ls out to almost all of them? None of them thought the Spurs would be this successful. Their story should be celebrated and you do that by putting a second guy from the group in.
Not to mention that picking someone from the East only adds insult to injury. You couldn't sub a guy from one conference with one from another just a few years ago, but because the athletes have forced the NBA to keep changing the rules in an effort to motivate the players to actually play hard, it's a free-for-all. It's all nasty.
If that's the case, we better see a bunch of votes for Victor Wembanyama when it's time for the MVP ballots to be cast. They've made it clear that they don't believe the Spurs have more than one All-Star, but someone on this squad deserves the proper respect for this run. Let's hope the Alien plays enough games, and the league does right by him and this organization. They're off to a poor start.