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NBA All-Star snubs: How did LeBron James make it over Kawhi Leonard, others?

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You’ve likely heard that the NBA All-Star Game format is different this season as commissioner Adam Silver continues trying to scrape up interest in a game none of the players take even remotely seriously. So this year, instead of West vs. East or squads chosen by captains, it’s going to be USA vs. the World with three teams of eight (two American and one World) for a total of 24 players competing in round-robin tournament. 

The 10 starters were announced two weeks ago, and on Sunday night the seven reserves from each conference, which were voted on by the coaches, were revealed. Here are the full teams.

I came into this fully prepared to be made about some particular exclusions, but the coaches did the right thing and put both Avdija and Powell in. I didn’t think they would. I’m not surprised at LeBron getting in, and if you’re on Team Lifetime Achievement, that’s cool. I’m not. All four of the guys below, at least, should have gotten in over him. 

Western Conference snubs

Kawhi Leonard, Clippers

Leonard is having a career season for a Clippers team that has been bulldozing teams for the last two months. His 27.7 PPG is a career high. He’s on track to join the ultra exclusive 50/40/90 shooting club. His 94% clip at the free-throw line leads the league, as do his 2.1 steals per game. The side by side vs. LeBron isn’t even close. 

Kawhi, of course, is still the subject of an ongoing NBA investigation into potential salary cap manipulation against the Clippers. 

Still, this exclusion is egregious. Kawhi is having an extraordinary season. If it’s close, fine, give LeBron the benefit of the doubt. But this isn’t close. I’m with Ty Lue on this.

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Alperen Sengun, Rockets

Sengun is one of three players in the league averaging at least 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists. The other two are Nikola Jokić (best player on the planet) and Jalen Johnson (All-Star). Houston is one of the best teams in the league and only Durant gets in? 

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Frankly, you could make a very strong case that they should have gotten three guys in; Amen Thompson is an All-Star in his sleep in the East and for my money should be in over LeBron for sure and arguably Holmgren in the West, although OKC definitely deserves two nods before Houston deserves three. 

Either way, Sengun should be in. If Kawhi should be taking LeBron’s place, then Sengun takes either Murray or Booker. Murray is having an extraordinary season and has long deserved his first selection, but if we’re not playing the “he’s earned it card” with LeBron, then has he really been better than Sengun? That’s close. If I absolutely had to make a call, I’d have Sengun in over Booker. 

James Harden, Clippers

I’ll agree that the Clippers shouldn’t get two All-Stars when they’re clinging to a play-in spot, and Leonard is the biggest snub. But Harden has to be mentioned here. Another victim of playing in the West, Harden isn’t shooting very efficiently but is the driver of what has been the league’s fifth-best offense over the last two months. 

I would obviously have Harden in on pure merit over LeBron, but to be fair, if we’re holding LeBron’s defense against him (which I am) then Harden doesn’t pass that test either. But the offense has been way better. 

Lauri Markkanen, Jazz

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Only in this Western Conference can a seven-footer averaging 27 and 7 not be an All-Star. Again, it’s not a debate against LeBron. Markannen got snubbed (as did his teammate, Keyonte George, but we can only pick one Jazz guy and Markannen is the one). 

I know I’ve mentioned Holmgren a few times as a guy a couple of these snubs have a case against, and it’s not that I don’t view Holmgren as an All-Star. He clearly is. His defense matters tremendously in an argument with a Markannen supporter. And the Thunder are the best team. 

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The truth is the NBA should get rid of the conference requirement in the voting since conferences aren’t even part of the actual game. All of these West guys would be in if we didn’t have to pick seven East guys (no disrespect to Pascal Siakam or Norm Powell or Karl-Anthony Towns). 

But even in the current structure, a 27 and 7 player like Markannen not being an All-Star is pretty crazy.

Eastern Conference Snubs

Michael Porter Jr., Nets

Porter has completely reinvented himself as a bonafide go-to scorer and All-Star player in Brooklyn. He is a real delight as one of the few go-to guys operating almost exclusively off the ball, a Reggie Miller type that almost doesn’t exist anymore. Take a look at this. 

Porter is averaging more points, rebounds and assists than Powell on higher shooting percentages. 

I love Powell. I’m glad he’s in. I would have MPJ in over Towns. 

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Joel Embiid, 76ers

I’m going to include Embiid here because there was a lot of talk about him getting in, but I think the coaches got this one right. Yes, he’s been pretty dominant for a good while now and the Sixers are almost 10 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court, per CTG, but he started out rough and has ultimately only played in 28 games. That means about 20 of them have been truly All-Star level. If you think he should be in over Towns, who is having the worst shooting season of his career, I won’t argue with you. But I’m fine with him being left off. 

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Tom Brady concedes GOAT title to another NFL legend

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While he is widely considered the greatest player in NFL history, Tom Brady has given that unofficial title to another gridiron great. A diehard 49ers fan during his childhood, Brady anointed former San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice as the greatest football player of all time. 

“Jerry sets the standard for every football player that’s ever played and will play in the future,” Brady said during the second episode of “Rise of the 49ers,” an AMC documentary about the 49ers’ dynasty. “He had a relentless drive to pursue his own excellence. 

“Jerry Rice is still the GOAT.” 

A fixture in the documentary, Brady conducted a sit-down interview Rice during the episode. Like Brady, Rice said that the secret to his success was in the dirt. His peerless work ethic led to him becoming unquestionably the best receiver of his era, but any era. 

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While their greatness can be debated, everyone can agree that Rice is to receivers what Brady is to quarterbacks. Both players at the top of their proverbial food chains. 

Rice is the NFL’s all-time career leader in receptions (1,549) and receiving yards. His 22,895 receiving yards are 5,403 more than Larry Fitzgerald, who is second all time behind Rice in both categories. Rice’s 197 career touchdown receptions are 41 more than the next closest receiver, Randy Moss. 

Speaking of Moss, Brady helped him break one of Rice’s most iconic records in 2007, when Moss broke Rice’s single-season touchdown receptions mark. Moss caught 23 that season, one more than Rice caught during the strike-shortened 1987 season. Rice caught 22 touchdowns in 12 games

Rice was at his best on the game’s biggest stage. He is the Super Bowl’s career leader in receiving yards (589) and touchdown catches (8). Rice’s 215 receiving yards in Super Bowl XXIII remains a single-game Super Bowl record. He caught seven passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns a year later in Super Bowl XXIV and pulled down 10 passes for 149 yards and three scores in the 49ers’ win over the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. He was truly a cut above the rest. 

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In all, Rice won three Super Bowls with the 49ers before playing in a fourth Super Bowl with the Raiders. 

Rice was the third receiver to win Super Bowl MVP. 
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Brady tops the charts in career passing yards (89,214) and has nearly 9,000 more yards than Drew Brees, the second most prolific passer in league history. His 649 career touchdown passes are 78 more than Brees, who retired as the career leader in both categories before Brady passed him. 

Super Bowls, however, may define Brady’s NFL career more than anything else. His seven Super Bowl wins are two more than any other franchise. He won a record five Super Bowl MVP awards and owns just about every Super Bowl career record and also owns the single-game record for passing yards (505). He also helped engineer the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history that was also the first Super Bowl to go to overtime. 

Brady’s fifth title cemented his legacy as the greatest QB of all-time. 
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Another similarity between the two is how well they both played well into their 40s. 

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Brady won two Super Bowls after turning 40 while becoming the second starting quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with multiple franchises. During his age-44 season, Brady led the NFL with 5,316 yards and 44 touchdown passes. 

At the age of 40, Rice earned his 13th Pro Bowl nod after catching 92 passes for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns. He capped off that season with a 48-yard touchdown catch in the Super Bowl. 

While their careers did overlap, Brady and Rice never played together, which would have been similar to watching LeBron James and Michael Jordan join forces on the hardwood. And like LeBron/Jordan debate, any debate between Rice and Brady simply comes down to preference. 

For Brady, though, there is no debate to be had when it comes to the greatest football player of them all. 

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Ducks beat Kraken, jump them in standings in final game before break

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NHL: Seattle Kraken at Anaheim DucksFeb 3, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks left wing Cutter Gauthier (61) celebrates his goal scored against the Seattle Kraken with defenseman Jackson LaCombe (2) during the second period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Cutter Gauthier scored his team-leading 25th goal of the season as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the visiting Seattle Kraken 4-2 Tuesday night.

Jacob Trouba, Alex Killorn and Ross Johnston also scored and Jackson LaCombe and Jansen Harkins added two assists apiece for the Ducks, who won their second in a row and for the ninth time in their past 11 games to move past Seattle and into third place in the Pacific Division entering the Olympic break. Goaltender Lukas Dostal made 26 saves.

The Kraken, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped, will have a chance to regain that spot in the standings as they have one game left, Wednesday night in Los Angeles, before their three-week hiatus.

Seattle’s Jordan Eberle scored on a tip-in of Jared McCann’s shot at 15:31 of the third to spoil Dostal’s bid for his first shutout of the season.

The Kraken’s Shane Wright tallied at 17:29 after Dostal’s attempt at an empty-net goal was knocked down.

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Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 of 31 shots.

Tuesday’s game completed the regular-season series between the division rivals, with the teams splitting the four matchups.

The Ducks outshot Seattle 11-7 in a scoreless first period.

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Anaheim opened the scoring at 4:01 of the second on a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle by Gauthier past a screened Grubauer just after a Kraken penalty had expired.

The Ducks made it 2-0 on defenseman Trouba’s goal at 19:27 of the period. Harkins carried the puck down the right wing before dropping a pass back to Trouba for a slap shot from the point that made it through a maze of players in front of the net.

Anaheim extended its lead to 3-0 as Killorn tallied just 24 seconds into the third on a wrist shot from low on the right wing through a screen.

Johnston made it 4-0 at 13:54 after Grubauer mishandled the puck behind his own net.

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–Field Level Media

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French footballer Kanté to join Turkish club after Erdogan intervenes to push transfer

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F‍rench footballer N’Golo Kanté has ​joined the Turkish side Fenerbahce after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intervened to push through a transfer deal with Saudi club Al-Ittihad. 

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NFL fans react to Micah Parsons filming female cheerleaders at Pro Bowl

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Miach Parsons was named to the Pro Bowl in his first year with the Green Bay Packers. Although the superstar defensive end was in San Francisco to attend the Pro Bowl festivities on Tuesday, he was on an electric scooter while moving around Moscone Center due to his knee injury. In one of the videos from the festivities that went viral on social media, Parsons was spotted filming the female cheerleaders doing a routine for the crowd.

When fans caught wind of the video clip in which Parsons was filming the cheerleaders while on an electric scooter, they slammed the Packers star.

“Creep behavior,” one tweeted.

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“Nfl star or creep in training,” another added.

“He not slick,” a third commented.

Here are a few more reactions.

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“NAH THIS IS MESSED TF UP,” one wrote.

“Kinda hate that this streamer a*s dude is a packer now. Like bruh… get us to the nfc championship mr highest paid ever,” another added.

“Tell that lame a*s podcaster to show up in the playoffs. Don’t nobody care bout Micah,” a user tweeted.

Micah Parsons finished the 2025 season with 41 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 6.5 stuffs, two forced fumbles and one pass defended. However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 15 against the Denver Broncos.

Although Parsons helped the Packers qualify for the playoffs, his team was eliminated in the wildcard round with a 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears.

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Micah Parsons explains how his relationship with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones soured last offseason

Green Bay Packers DE Micah Parsons - Source: GettyGreen Bay Packers DE Micah Parsons - Source: Getty
Green Bay Packers DE Micah Parsons – Source: Getty

Micah Parsons’ relationship with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones soured last offseason, which led to the team trading the DE to the Packers in August. On Tuesday, Parsons opened up his acrimonious split with the Cowboys.

“I just wish some of those things never happened. You know what I mean?,” Parsons told Clarence Hill of All City DLLS Cowboys. “I wish that he never brought me into the office and just let the agent speak. And I wish he hadn’t compromised our relationship. I thought me and Jerry had a good relationship up to that point until this offseason, and it’s sad that it went to sh*t like that.”

Parsons played four years with the Cowboys, earning a Pro Bowl selection in each season. He signed a 4-year, $188 million extension with the Packers after the Cowboys traded him last year.