Franz Wagner missed out on making the All-Star team. But that shouldn’t detract from the great season the Berliner is having in the NBA for the Orlando Magic.
It’s already clear that Franz Wagner won’t be individually rewarded for his outstanding season. A torn abdominal muscle in December cost the 23-year-old 20 games and was the main reason why Wagner’s name was not mentioned on TNT on Thursday night when the All-Star reserves were announced.
It is also clear that Wagner will not be considered for an All-NBA team, i.e. the honor of the best 15 players of the season, at the end of the season. 66 games are required to be considered. Wagner can no longer reach this mark. With the German, the Magic are 17-12, without him 7-13. With Wagner on the court, the Magic are 13.4 points per 100 possessions better on the court, which is a top-10 value in the league.
Financially, this also has an impact, although the forward will be the top earner among all German athletes from next season anyway. Nevertheless, it’s a shame that his performances have not been rewarded by the coaches, but looking at the past, this is not really surprising.
Because: Coaches value two things in addition to the impact on the game. On the one hand, there is availability, which even superstars like Luka Doncic (22 games) and Ja Morant (28 games) fell victim to.
Franz Wagner is not the only “victim”
On the other hand, there is the team’s record. All of the All-Stars this season come from the top six in the conference, with the only exception being Cade Cunningham. However, he is the leader of the surprise team in the East and has the raw numbers on his side. Players like Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks), LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets) or even Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls) would have had just as good a case, but they play for teams with negative records.
The Houston Rockets in the West are an extreme example. They have many good players, are second in the conference, but have no clear All-Star. But because someone had to be “rewarded”, it was Alperen Sengün, who may have even played a better season last year but is now included.
So the All-Star Game remains a gimmick in which performance is not always the most important argument. Wagner is undoubtedly one of the league’s top 20 players this season and would have deserved one of the 24 spots in the All-Star Game, but that’s not how the NBA always works. At 23 years old, the Berliner still has plenty of time to make up for it sooner or later.