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All-NBA, All-Star selections ultimately mean little to a legacy

By Jacob Swanson

Feb 15, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; 2014 Western Conference All-Stars guard Damian Lillard (Blazers) (0) talks to the media after the practice session at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; 2014 Western Conference All-Stars guard Damian Lillard (Blazers) (0) talks to the media after the practice session at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Last week, many felt Damian Lillard was snubbed from the All-NBA teams.  The good news for Lillard, however, is that for an NBA legacy, it doesn’t really matter.

NBA players and fans think about legacy all the time. It’s one of the reasons we constantly argue who is the best player of all time between LeBron James and Michael Jordan and everyone argues for their best starting lineup of all time. And it’s also why All-NBA teams are so hotly debated.

(For the record, my all-time starting five is Magic Johnson, Jordan, James, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.)

When it comes to legacy, it’s all about NBA championships and MVP awards.  No one cares about the rest.  When I’m putting together my all-time starting five, I don’t care about how many times a player made the All-Star Game or was an All-NBA selection.

There’s a reason Tracy McGrady, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter aren’t ever making these lists and they’re honestly not even making the bench if we extend this to a full 12-man roster of the greatest players ever.

They’d all be pushing to make a list of the greatest 50 players in NBA history.

It’s not that these players didn’t have good, even great, careers.  Carter’s one of my favorite players ever.  Ultimately, for them, however, it’s about rings and MVP awards.  Wilkins has nine All-Star berths and seven All-NBA selections.  McGrady has seven of each.

They’re both deserving Hall of Famers.  They just don’t have the hardware.

Nothing vindicated Dirk Nowitzki‘s career like his 2011 NBA title, which he earned by defeating a Miami Heat super team.  His 13 All-Star Game selections or 12 All-NBA picks won’t define him.

He set his legacy in stone in 242 minutes during the Finals in 2011.  Damian Lillard and the Blazers will have to do the same thing.

Leaving a legacy for Lillard and McCollum

If Lillard and C.J. McCollum want to leave a legacy, as it feels like they both do, it’s about hanging banners in the Moda Center.

If they keep making strides and winning games, then one of them could nab an MVP, though that outlook seems bleak with the stats being posted around the league right now.

Lillard has seemingly been a snub every time an award is up for grabs.  Despite that, he’s still got two All-Star selections and two All-NBA selections in just four NBA seasons.  He’s got 10 years, give or take a few, to build those totals up, and he’ll undoubtedly do so.

Next: Was Lillard An Egregious All-NBA Oversight?

When those 10 years are up, however, no one will care about the totals.  They’ll care about how many rings he has to his name.  Even if it’s just one, in the age of LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors, his legacy will be set in stone.