A case for Norman Powell

Why the Clippers snub was the most deserving of an All-Star nod among guards

The 2025 NBA All-Stars are in, and while I’m sure you can find plenty of pieces outlining the omissions—many of which will be rendered moot once those players are named as injury replacements—I do think that one player’s absence, in particular, was worth noting: Norman Powell.

Mini Soapbox Corner: Why the hell hasn’t the NBA extended the All-Star roster size to at least 15 players? As my good man Dr. Thompson pointed out, how have we had the same number of All-Star slots available for almost six decades, despite the league being more than double the size from when it expanded the rosters to 12 players back in 1968? I’m all for the honor that exclusivity provides, particularly considering the disproportionate reputational weight that being named an All-Star carries, but it makes little sense for it to be this difficult every year while the league’s talent continues to expand beyond the confines of just 30-ish players (adding in for injury replacements) deserving recognition.

Back to my point…

The Clippers, who currently sit at 27-20 and the sixth seed in the Western Conference, have been one of the talks of the season. This is a group that surprised many with how competitive they were early on despite missing the ever-illusively injured Kawhi Leonard for the team’s first 34 games. Through that stretch, the Clippers rode a stellar defense—fifth in the league with a 108.7 rating—and an offensively resurgent James Harden, looking to still prove that he is the system, to one of the league’s most surprising early season runs. That is unless you have been paying attention to me constantly banging the drum about how great a coach Ty Lue is.

Los Angeles’ start has been so good that it felt mandatory for the team to have an All-Star representative, and with James Harden being named to his 11th All-Star team, the Clippers were awarded as warranted. Except, Harden, despite increasing his scoring by 5.1 points per game from last season, was absolutely the wrong guy.

Yes, James Harden’s counting stats are impressive: 21.7 PPG, 8.4 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG. But a player shooting under 40% (39.9) from the field while leading the league in turnovers (4.6) is not the profile that warrants an All-Star nod—just ask Trae Young. (Calm down Trae-anon, I already gave the dude some recent love.)

No, the player who deserved the ASG nod for the LAC Clips was clearly Norman Powell, who is having far and away his best season in this, his tenth in the league.

Here’s a quick look at Powell’s numbers so far and where they rank within his own ten-year career in terms of previous/currents highs:

• MPG: 33.2 (1st); Prev: 32.4 (’22)

• PPG: 24.0 (1st); Prev: 19.0 (’22)

• APG: 2.2 (1st); Prev: 2.1 (’22)

• RPG: 3.6 (2nd); Prev: 3.7 (’20)

• SPG: 1.4 (1st); Prev: 1.2 (’21)

• FGA: 16.8 (1st); Prev: 13.4 (’22)

• FG%: 49.4 (2nd); Prev: 49.5 (’20)

• 3PM: 3.4 (1st); Prev: 2.5 (’21)

• 3P%: 43.5 (T-1st); Prev: 43.5% (’24)

What’s most impressive here is that you would typically assume that Powell’s significant jump in production—he’s up 10.1 points per game over last season—would be a reflection of a considerable increase in opportunity. There is some truth to that, as Powell, who has finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting both of the last two seasons, has now become a full-time starter this season and, as such, is also sporting the highest usage percentage of his career. Still, as shown below, Powell has played comparable minutes before in his career, yet he’s never been this quality of scorer

Of course, the absence of Kawhi Leonard to start the season is what opened the door for Powell to become a starter. And the Klaw’s continued leg issues also left 17 shots a game (Kawhi attempted 17.1 field goal attempts per game last season) on the table for other Clippers to pick at. And like the carrion consumer Chuck the Condor, Powell has certainly had his way with those available scraps, increasing his field goal attempts from 10.1 last season to 16.8 this year.