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Carmelo Anthony replaces injured Kevin Love on 2017 East All-Star team

Dan Devine
Senior NBA writer

After coming up short in the running for a starting spot and finding himself outside the coaches’ picks for the reserve corps, Carmelo Anthony had to come to terms with the fact that, for the first time in seven years, he wasn’t an All-Star. And you know what? Given how weird, stressful and taxing these last few months have been, he was fine with it.

“I got plans,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ Tuesday practice, according to Fred Kerber of the New York Post. “I would love to take this break and just utilize this break and my body and my mind and just get away from everything. I could utilize this break. If they call me, I’d consider it, but I would love to utilize this break.”

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Well … um … bad news on that front, ‘Melo:

The NBA confirmed Stein’s report shortly thereafter, announcing that the New York Knicks forward had been named by Commissioner Adam Silver to replace Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who just underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, on the Eastern Conference squad at Sunday’s 2017 NBA All-Star Game.

One popular potential prospect to replace Love, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, has been shelved of late with knee issues of his own. Instead, Silver went with Anthony, a veteran of nine previous All-Star Games, who has rebounded from a slow start to the season to weather the roiling absurdity of Madison Square Garden by averaging 25 points, 6.1 rebounds and three assists per game in 2017, shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from 3-point range to serve as one of the few bright spots on the moribund Knicks.

Kevin Love went down, so Carmelo Anthony came up. (AP)
Kevin Love went down, so Carmelo Anthony came up. (AP)

What specifically led Silver to select Anthony remains unclear. Perhaps it’s that Anthony got the highest number of fan votes of any Eastern frontcourt player available to play. Maybe it’s that ‘Melo was the eighth-place finisher when Eastern coaches picked their seven reserves. Or maybe this is just the commish’s way of saying, “Sorry things are so ridiculous where you work.”

… although, given the intensely high likelihood that Anthony will now spend his weekend fielding countless questions about whether he’d like to replace Love on another team before the Feb. 23 NBA trade deadline, this might not have been the kindest way of compensating ‘Melo for his pain and suffering.

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Whatever the case, Anthony will now make his eighth straight All-Star appearance, and his 10th overall … which means, of course, that the other prospective choices won’t be heading to New Orleans. Among those who could be considered snubs for the spot:

• Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who’s averaging a career-best 22.3 points per game for the red-hot Wiz;

• Dwight Howard, who’s quietly turning in his most productive season since he left Orlando for an Atlanta Hawks squad that’s sitting fourth in the conference;

• One of the Miami Heat’s inside-out duo of Hassan Whiteside, the NBA’s leading rebounder, and Goran Dragic, who’s producing like he hasn’t since his All-NBA 2013-14 campaign in Phoenix and was the engine of the Heat’s recent record-setting winning streak;

• Boston Celtics big man Al Horford, who’s been an ace defensive anchor and supplementary playmaker (a career-best five assists per game) alongside All-Star scorer Isaiah Thomas on the East’s No. 2 seed;

• Anthony’s teammate, sophomore Latvian stud Kristaps Porzingis, who finished higher on the ballots of NBA players and media members than ‘Melo and who has arguably been better, on balance, over the course of the full season.

You might consider one or more of those players (or perhaps one of the many others I didn’t list!) to have been more deserving of the slot than Anthony. Personally, I think it should’ve gone to Beal, who’s been good enough to earn the massive contract he got this summer, reignite the “best backcourt in the East” talk that faded away last year as the Wizards stumbled and the Raptors soared, and help breathe new life into D.C. basketball; your mileage may vary.

In general, though, it seems tough to get too exercised about the commissioner picking a very famous player who is playing very well and whom fans showed interest in seeing … unless, of course, you are said famous player, and you had kind of warmed to the idea of actually getting a mid-February vacation for the first time in a while. Sorry about that, ‘Melo. I hope you made like DeAndre Jordan and stopped short of putting down any non-refundable deposits.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!