The Houston Rockets have been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA during the first half of the 2025-26 season, currently sitting at 31-18 and holding the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Loaded with young talent and now anchored by Kevin Durant, Houston has lived up to — and in many ways exceeded — preseason expectations.
Yet there’s a lingering sense that the team remains somewhat top-heavy. Too often, the offense leans heavily on Durant to bail them out of stagnant possessions. When he’s on the floor, the Rockets look like legitimate title contenders in the brutal West. When he’s not — as happened for the first time this season on Monday against Indiana due to a minor ankle issue — the drop-off becomes noticeable.
Durant’s performance has silenced any whisper of age-related regression. At 37, he’s still an elite, efficient scoring machine and was rightfully named a Western Conference All-Star reserve — his 16th career selection and sixth consecutive (excluding the injury-shortened 2019-20 season when he tore his Achilles in the Finals). This season he’s averaging:
- 25.9 PPG
- 5.4 RPG
- 4.5 APG
- ~2 stocks (steals + blocks)
- 50.8% FG, 39.9% 3PT, 88.9% FT, 62.9% TS
Those numbers are remarkable for any age, let alone approaching 38. His All-Star nod was the easiest vote in the West.
The Biggest Snub: Alperen Şengün
The real surprise — and what many around the league are calling the biggest All-Star omission of 2026 — was Alperen Şengün being left off the roster entirely.
Şengün, just 23 years old, is having a career year as the Rockets’ offensive hub and two-way anchor. While exact 2025-26 per-game averages aren’t fully detailed in recent reports, his production has clearly surpassed last season’s All-Star campaign (when he made the team with worse numbers). NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin didn’t mince words:
“For my money, Alperen Şengün was the biggest snub out there. He deserved a spot more than LeBron, going just on play the past year.”
LeBron James’ inclusion was never in serious doubt — at 41, in his 23rd season, he’s essentially a lifetime achievement selection at this point. But Şengün’s exclusion stands out as particularly glaring.
Şengün Still Has a Path to the All-Star Game
There is still hope. Two Western Conference All-Stars — Giannis Antetokounmpo (likely to sit/rest) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (out with a strained abdominal) — are expected to miss the game. That creates two open roster spots for injury replacements.
Given Şengün’s impact, his team’s top-4 standing in the West, and the widespread acknowledgment of his snub, he is one of the strongest candidates to be added as a replacement when the league finalizes the rosters in the coming days.
Why It Matters
Şengün being left off initially — despite being arguably the Rockets’ most indispensable player outside of Durant — highlights how difficult it can be for young big men to earn All-Star recognition in a guard- and wing-dominated era. But if he gets the nod as a replacement, it would be a deserved acknowledgment of his growth into one of the league’s most complete and efficient centers.
Rockets fans — do you think Şengün gets added as an injury replacement? Should he have made it outright over someone like LeBron at this stage of his career? And how big a snub do you think this is compared to other notable omissions this year? Drop your thoughts below — All-Star weekend is coming fast.