The true and deserving 2024 Western Conference All-Stars

Back with Part II of my All-Star Selections, this time featuring the Western side of things. You can find my Eastern Conference All-Stars here (available for free) if you missed them on Monday (and yes, I stand by my Paolo Banchero selection. The players are notoriously silly voters, but they still had him fourth in the frontcourt behind the Big Three of Giannis/Tatum/Embiid, so I feel somewhat vindicated).

But the East was a stroll for spongy angel food compared to the West. The West is an Elizabeth Báthory-style bloodbath. We say that every year, but there’s one difference this year. Everyone in the West has been healthy, give or take a Ja Morant. Usually, you can count on a handful of stars missing big chunks of games, making the selection process easier. Not this year. There are at least four players I snubbed who would’ve made the East All-Star team, and that’s conservative.

Be mentally prepared; I definitely left out your favorite player. You will be mad. But there are far more outstanding individual performers than Western slots, so I picked the truest and most deserving candidates.

Remember, this is not a predictions column. I’m simply picking the guys playing best to this point. The first quarter of the season matters just as much as the second quarter, and I try hard to avoid recency bias, which may be why a few of these selections surprise people.

Trying to rank these players is like wrangling a bunch of greased puppies: you might have to dirty your hands, but it’s beautiful chaos.