Booker: All-Star Game no longer has 'all the best players'

After not being selected as an All-Star reserve, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker criticized the Association on Friday for leaving out some of its top players in the league's annual showcase.

"It just (once again proves) the point that the NBA is different than the game that I fell in love with at the beginning, of all the best players being in the All-Star Game, growing up watching that," Booker told reporters, including the Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin.

"Now, it's an entertainment-, drama-, political-filled league," Booker continued. "But we're a part of it now. It pays well, so I guess we should be quiet about it."

Asked how he'd revise the All-Star selection process, Booker said he'd "put the best players in the game."

The 14 All-Star reserves, including seven from the Western Conference, are selected by the league's head coaches. Booker has yet to make an All-Star Game appearance.

Entering Friday's slate of games, the fifth-year pro ranks eighth league-wide in scoring at 27.1 points per game with a 56.4% effective field-goal percentage. He's also averaging 6.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds per contest.

Suns general manager James Jones released a statement in support of Booker shortly after the reserves were announced, saying the 23-year-old is "undoubtedly an NBA All-Star," according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

The Suns currently sit 3 1/2 games back of the West's final playoff spot with a 20-27 record.