All but one member of the TNT crew gives Utah Jazz some All-Star love

Three out of four members of the TNT crew predicted that a Utah Jazz player will earn one of the reserve spots on the 2019 NBA All-Star roster.

Thursday evening marked the release of the NBA All-Star Game starting lineups. Of course, to the surprise of no one, there wasn’t a single Utah Jazz player on the list.

Now, before Jazz fans lose their minds and get upset, it’s important to realize that, as much as we love our Utah Jazz and as good as the team has been playing of late, it’s pretty logical that they wouldn’t have a starter. Not only would they be hard-pressed to earn that slot even if they deserved it due to the team’s slow start and their small market status, but the five Western Conference players that got the nod are simply legendary.

Suiting up for the West starters will be LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Paul George. Each are having incredible seasons thus far and it’s hard to dispute that they were deserving of their respective bids.

However, there’s still a chance that a Utah Jazz player could get into the All-Star Game as one of the reserves voted in by the coaches. Here at The J-Notes, we’ve made it quite clear that we believe that Rudy Gobert is deserving of such a nod, but we’ll just have to wait and see until next Thursday whether he ultimately makes the cut or not.

Meanwhile, following the release of the All-Star starters, the NBA on TNT crew weighed in on who they thought should round out the reserves from the Western Conference. As you can see in the graphic and video below, they all agreed that Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson and Russell Westbrook should be among those ranks.

However, they were quite divided on who should earn the final two roster spots. But, excitingly enough, all but one of the crew had a Jazzman as their selection as a West reserve. Shaq and Ernie had Rudy Gobert while Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith had Donovan Mitchell qualifying. That means the lone man who didn’t have a Jazzman in his picks for West reserves was none other than Charles Barkley.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1088597965227188224

Sometimes I love Barkley’s opinions and other times I think he’s way off. In this instance, I’m going with the latter. And not because he left a Jazzman out of his final two – I honestly think that’s perfectly justifiable – as there are several players in the West who could be viewed as deserving of an All-Star bid, perhaps even over Gobert and Mitchell, depending on the argument.

However, where I disagree with Chuck is that he has Luka Doncic as an All-Star reserve. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m actually a huge Doncic fan and agree with what Barkley said in the video above that he’s the runaway Rookie of the Year so far.

Nevertheless, as he continues to learn, grow and develop in the game, I don’t think he’s had anywhere near the season to be considered an All-Star just yet. There are several more seasoned and better-performing players in the West that ought to be viewed above him on the list. I’d imagine that Doncic will ultimately make many All-Star appearances before his career comes to an end, but I don’t believe he’s there yet.

With that out of the way, let’s get back to the Jazz, shall we? It’s awesome to see one of the most acclaimed crews giving Gobert and Mitchell such love. I seriously doubt that both will make the All-Star Game, but I’m hopeful that at least one will. If the coaches have the same mindset as these guys, then it would appear that they have a pretty good shot.

However, if they instead follow Barkley’s line of thinking, or instead go with several other worthy candidates, it’s entirely possible that the pair of Jazzmen will ultimately find themselves on the outside looking in.

Let’s hope that such won’t be the case, but in a deep Western Conference, it’s truly anybody’s guess. By this time next week we’ll know for sure.