Why Brook Lopez's Snub from 2012 NBA All-Star Team Is a Travesty

Maybe the throwback-set shot did him in.

Or maybe it was simply the all-around vintage game that had coaches worrying about Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez boring fans to sleep during February 17's NBA All-Star Game.

Sounds like a stretch, right?

Well, that's just my attempt to make sense out of the best player on the NBA's hottest team (12-2 in their past 14 games) not being among the players selected by the coaches as an All-Star reserve.

Here's who did make the cut:

"

Your 2013 NBA All-Star Western and Eastern Conference reserves twitter.com/BleacherReport…

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 25, 2013"

To say that he was snubbed is like saying he's had an exhaustive 12 months. Over that time frame he's been perhaps the most widely-discussed player in trade rumors, adapted to a drastic offseason change to the team's make-up (the addition of Joe Johnson) and transitioned in a midseason coaching change (from Avery Johnson to P.J. Carlesimo).

And yet he's still guided his team to the third-best record in the Eastern Conference (26-16), a half-game better than that of the Chicago Bulls, who filled two (Luol Deng and Joakim Noah) of the seven remaining slots. In fact, none of the Nets made the roster, although none of them hold a bigger beef than Lopez.

So, he's got the team success on his resume. And his individual numbers look every bit All-Star-worthy:

"

Brook Lopez is leading centers in scoring (18.6 ppg). He's the Nets' best player. He's 4th in PER behind LeBron, K.D. and CP3. #justsaying

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) January 25, 2013"

It must be the style of play then, right?

That'd be an easier pill to swallow if this voting was also done by the fans, though, and not the coaches.

Perhaps the fans did have the biggest say in this snub, though. It'd be tough to imagine the coaches throwing the same love that the fans did when they voted Kevin Garnett (14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game with an 18.5 PER) into the starting lineup, particularly given the struggles of the Boston Celtics (20-21).

Then again, maybe the coaches had their own reasons for not voting in Lopez:

"

Wow, no Nets All-Stars. I thought they might get Brook and Joe. Def think the firing of Avery rubbed coaches (who vote) the wrong way.

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) January 25, 2013"

Whatever the reasons were, there weren't enough to overwhelm the big man's obvious All-Star credentials.