Zach LaVine vs Coby White: Who was the bigger snub?

Chicago Bulls guards Zach LaVine and Coby White were left out of the All-Star Game and the Rising Stars Challenge, respectively. Who was the bigger snub?

Zach LaVine’s potential All-Star appearance before the hometown fans at the United Center loomed over the Chicago Bulls for almost a year. Now, we have our answer: LaVine won’t be participating in the game. He didn’t make it.

Some think he got snubbed, some think he was justly left off the team.

Coby White never had a chance of making the All-Star team, but he did have a legitimate chance of getting to play in the Rising Stars Challenge — the annual event putting the best youngsters in the league on display. Like LaVine, though, White was left off of his respective potential team.

Also like LaVine, some feel White deserved to make the team, some feel he didn’t. This begs the question: Which Chicago Bulls guard was the bigger snub?

When evaluating lists of players, whether it be for the All-Star Game, the Rising Stars Challenge or even the All-NBA Teams, there’s always one crucial question that has to be answered: If you think someone got snubbed, then who unjustly made the team? In other words, who should the snubbed player replace?

For both Zach LaVine and Coby White, that’s not an easy question to answer.

The only two guys to be voted into the All-Star Game from the East that could reasonably be removed are Kyle Lowry and Khris Middleton. Neither one of those guys is putting up numbers like Zach LaVine or Bradley Beal. They’re both on the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, though. Clearly, the voters favored winning instead of individual stats. I don’t have a fundamental problem with that philosophy, but I’d still rather see the two better individuals (in this case, LaVine and Beal) make the team, rather than the two guys who have better supporting casts.

As far as the Rising Stars Challenge goes, it’s really tough to find a guy Coby should be playing over. Team USA is stacked.

The only guys you could make an argument against are PJ Washington, Miles Bridges, Eric Paschall and Tyler Herro — all of whom are having better statistical seasons than Coby White.

I would’ve loved to see Coby play in the Rising Stars Challenge. It’s not that he didn’t deserve to be included, it just all comes down to that one question: Who unjustly made the team? Unfortunately for Coby, the answer is no one.

Bigger snub: Zach LaVine

NBA All-Star Weekend kicks off Friday, February 14.