Mavericks' Carlise says Ellis should be an All-Star over Nowitzki

Monta Ellis  may have it all. That is, except an All-Star berth.

Despite 12 players being named to the roster and three additional injury replacements, Ellis was left off the Western Conference All-Star team. Instead, teammate Dirk Nowitzki was tabbed as an injury replacement by commissioner Adam Silver.

Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, for one, disagrees with Silver's decision. Carlise appeared on 103.3 FM in Dallas and cast his support for Ellis.

Let’s be honest. He should be at the All-Star Game and Dirk should be home.

I mean, that’s the way this should be going. I’m assuming they go by the vote count, and Dirk may have had one more vote than Monta or something like that. But Monta Ellis should be in the All-Star game.

...

Dirk is certainly deserving. Don't get me wrong. But Monta, this was his time to be there.

Ellis has yet to make an All-Star Game despite boasting a career scoring average of 19.4 points. This season, Ellis leads the Mavericks in scoring with 19.8 points and has chipped in with 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals to boot.

However, Nowitzki has been excellent as usual, scoring 18.3 points and grabbing six rebounds. Nowitzki's shot has missed the more than usual, but he's been a crucial component to the Mavericks' 36-19 record at the break.

There's a case to be made for both players. But given that Nowitzki now has 13 appearances to Ellis's zero, Silver probably should have yielded to the youngster over the celebrated veteran.

- with h/t to Pro Basketball Talk