Opinion: D'Angelo Russell's All-Star Nod is Well-Deserved

D'Angelo Russell is having an All-Star caliber season. His teammate Jared Dudley has tweeted his support of Russell for most of the season.

He's also received support from players such as Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker. Russell seemed like a shoo-in to be selected for the All-Star game. But, he did not make the All-Star teams.

At least not until now. According to Shams Charnania of the Athletic, D'Angelo Russell will replace Victor Oladipo in the All-Star game.

Brooklyn's D'Angelo Russell has been selected as Victor Oladipo's replacement as an East reserve in the NBA All-Star game, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 1, 2019

The NBA announced the All-Star reserves on Thursday. The Eastern Conference reserves are as follows: Ben Simmons, Bradley Beal, Khris Middleton, Nikola Vucevic, Blake Griffin, Kyle Lowry, and Victor Oladipo.

The Western Conference reserves feature players such as Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook.

For the East, Victor Oladipo cannot compete due to a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee. Oladipo will be out for the rest of the season and will miss the All-Star game. So, D'Angelo Russell will replace Oladipo due to his injury.

This season, D'Angelo Russell averages 19.6 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.8 rebounds. Russell has been impressive this season and continues to play at a high level.

He's also helped the Nets become playoff bound, which is almost unheard of. The Nets are sixth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 28-25. Russell's season has played a big part in the Nets' success this year.

D'Angelo Russell deserved to be an All-Star. Despite how well he is playing, his All-Star chances seemed slim.

In fan voting, Russell did not reach the Top-10. Kyrie Irving leads the East in votes with 3,187,015 fan votes. Bradley Beal had 251,170 fan votes. Russell did not have more votes than Beal who was 10th in East guards for fan voting.

The fan votes counted for 50 percent of the total All-Star starter voters. Russell did not have enough votes to become a starter. He also did not become a reserve through votes from coaches around the league. Russell was on the verge of being an All-Star snub.

Now, D'Angelo Russell is an All-Star. Although he is a replacement to Oladipo, he still made it. Next year, Russell will likely become an All-Star but with different circumstances. Regardless, his nod is well deserved.