NBA All-Star Rosters 2015: Most Egregious Snubs After Reserves Reveal

With the NBA as loaded with star power as it is, snubs are inevitable entering any All-Star Game, and the 2015 edition looks to be no different after Thursday's reserves reveal.

Although, the notable players missing from the action for this year seem to jump off the page more than usual. As you'd expect with the players who have emerged as can't-miss All-Star selections taking some spots, there are a handful of more-than-worthy options who will be staying home for the big weekend.

The fans don't always get it right with the selections of the starting lineups, and the field of coaches that decided this year's reserves can get it wrong a time or two as well. With that said, let's look at the finalized All-Star roster after the reserves reveal that is sure to change via injury.

Eastern Conference	Position	Western Conference
John Wall, WAS	Starting Guard	Stephen Curry, GSW
Kyle Lowry, TOR	Starting Guard	Kobe Bryant, LAL
Pau Gasol, CHI	Starting Forward	Anthony Davis, NOP
LeBron James, CLE	Starting Forward	Marc Gasol, MEM
Carmelo Anthony, NYK	Starting Forward	Blake Griffin, LAC
Jimmy Butler, CHI	Reserve Guard	Klay Thompson, GSW
Kyrie Irving, CLE	Reserve Guard	Chris Paul, LAC
Paul Millsap, ATL	Reserve Forward	James Harden, HOU
Al Horford, ATL	Reserve Forward	Kevin Durant, OKC
Chris Bosh, MIA	Reserve Forward	LaMarcus Aldridge, POR
Jeff Teague, ATL	Wild Card Reserve	Tim Duncan, SAS
Dwyane Wade, MIA	Wild Card Reserve	Russell Westbrook, OKC

Most Egregious Snubs

DeMarcus Cousins, F, Sacramento Kings (West)

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

Chalk it up to a loaded West, better name recognition from others or whatever you'd like—but DeMarcus Cousins unabashedly deserves a ticket to The Big Apple come Valentine's Day weekend.

In this his fifth NBA season, Cousins has finally taken strides to becoming the world-class player he's always been capable of. He's averaging 23.8 points per game, 9.3 assists and 1.6 blocks, all of which are up from last year's campaign in which he was also snubbed for an All-Star spot.

The coaches picked over the former Kentucky center in favor of Tim Duncan, as noted by Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears, which is easy to imagine but hard to agree with:

While Cousins is in the midst of a career-best season, Duncan's numbers are down from last season, averaging 14.7 points and 7.5 rebounds on .486 shooting. That's his lowest points-per-game total since the 2010-11 season.

It didn't help that Cousins played in 10 less games than Duncan, but that shouldn't overlook his incredible efficiency this season, as told by ESPN Stats & Info:

Last year's snubbing lit a fire under Cousins, and helped him to hone in on the best basketball of his career. If his snub from this year does the same, he won't be picked over in 2015-16—that's for sure.

Damian Lillard, G, Portland Trail Blazers (West)

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

A loaded crop of Western Conference point guards has left a number of worthy All-Star options off the roster, but none are more deserving than Damian Lillard.

He faced an uphill battle when the likes of James Harden and Klay Thompson—seemingly shoo-ins—were left off the starting lineup, having to compete against them along with Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul for the final spots. All four received the nod over Lillard.

However, Lillard (21.6) has a much better points-per-game average than Paul (17.5) and has led the Trail Blazers against the odds to an identical 32-14 record to this point. Westbrook has been on fire since his return from injury but has only appeared in 32 games and averages four minutes less than Lillard per contest.

Comments earlier in the week to Forward Center's Casey Holdahl indicated Lillard would be "pissed off" and "re-energized" if he was left off the ballot. His quiet response to The Oregonian's Joe Freeman didn't go against those comments:

Lillard still maintains a chance to get into the field, with West starting guard Kobe Bryant out after surgery. But considering how Lillard has approached this year's All-Star Game, this simple snubbing will motivate him either way.

Brandon Knight, G, Milwaukee Bucks (East)

Aaron Gash/Associated Press

Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Knight won't headline anybody's list of 2015 All-Star snubs, but that doesn't mean he's any less deserving.

The Bucks have taken the East by storm with a shocking sixth-place spot in the standings as of Thursday evening, and Knight has been among the biggest reasons why. He has exploded in his third season, averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds per contest.

With the 11th-best scoring average among Eastern Conference players, Knight would figure to be a lock for one of the 12 spots but was instead picked over for Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague and Chicago Bulls shooting guard Jimmy Butler.

But if his performance Thursday night was any indication, few players are more valuable to their playoff-hopeful team than Knight, as told by Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler:

With incredible seasons to date by Teague, Butler and even Dwyane Wade, Knight faced an uphill battle to lock down one of the reserve spots. But with his performance and value this season in perspective, he deserves to be among them.