By ADAM ZAGORIA & JOSH NEWMAN
NEW YORK — Lance Stephenson responded to being snubbed for the All-Star Game with his fourth-triple double of the season, twice as many as anyone else in the NBA.
Stephenson went for 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102-94 home loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Nicolas Batum all have two triple-doubles, according to ESPN.
The Brooklyn native entered the night averaging 14.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the Pacers (35-10), who own the NBA’s best record.
“Lance’s focus has been to help the Pacers win a championship,” his agent, Alberto Ebanks, told SNY.tv.
“An All-Star appearance would have been great and would have been a nice accomplishment but his primary goal is and will continue to be helping his team win it all this year.”
Stephenson is in the final year of a contract that is paying him just $1.005 million this season, and he will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1.
The Pacers own his fully-vested Bird rights, meaning, theoretically, they could offer Stephenson a maximum deal of five years at a projected $79.9 million, depending on what the Basketball Related Income (BRI) and salary cap look like this summer. Any other team could offer Stephenson four years at a projected $59.3 million.
No one is saying Stephenson is worth that much money, but that’s what is out there for him if the Pacers or anyone else thinks he’s worth it. Stephenson has stated publicly his desire to remain with the Pacers, but there are various factors to consider.
Pacers management has said it would prefer not to pay the luxury tax, which should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $73 million next season. If the Pacers opt to bring back Luis Scola next season at just under $4.9 million, they will have about $66 million committed before even getting to Stephenson.
If that scenario plays out, it would be difficult for the Pacers to offer Stephenson the maximum if that’s what they wanted to do. At that point, the situation turns into how high of a priority he is to the franchise. That factor isn’t likely to be decided for months.
“This is a great team, the future holds itself, I would love to stay here,” Stephenson previously told SNY.tv. “I knew I was always talented, I just needed the opportunity and confidence just playing in a game and getting used to teammates and used to the flow of the game. I always knew I could play in an NBA-type game.”
2014 EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STARS
No. Player (Team) Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Home Country All-Star Selections 7 *Carmelo Anthony (New York) F 6-8 235 05/29/84 Syracuse/USA 7 1 Chris Bosh (Miami) F/C 6-11 235 03/24/84 Georgia Tech/USA 9 10 #DeMar DeRozan (Toronto) G 6-7 216 08/07/89 USC/USA 1 24 *Paul George (Indiana) G/F 6-8 221 05/02/90 Fresno State/USA 2 55 Roy Hibbert (Indiana) C 7-2 290 12/11/86 Georgetown/USA 2 2 *Kyrie Irving (Cleveland) G 6-3 191 03/23/92 Duke/USA 2 6 *LeBron James (Miami) F 6-8 250 12/30/84 St. Vincent/St. Mary HS/USA 10 7 Joe Johnson (Brooklyn) G 6-7 240 06/29/81 Arkansas/USA 7 4 #Paul Millsap (Atlanta) F 6-8 253 02/10/85 Louisiana Tech/USA 1 13 Joakim Noah (Chicago) C 6-11 232 02/25/85 Florida/USA 2 3 *Dwyane Wade (Miami) G 6-4 210 01/17/82 Marquette/USA 10 2 #John Wall (Washington) G 6-4 195 09/06/90 Kentucky/USA 1 Head Coach: Frank Vogel (Kentucky) Assistant Coaches: Dan Burke (Portland State); Nate McMillan (North Carolina State); Popeye Jones (Murray State) Athletic Trainer: Wally Blase (Atlanta)
2014 WESTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STARS
Prior to NBA/ No. Player (Team) Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Home Country All-Star Selections 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland) F 6-11 240 07/19/85 Texas/USA 3 24 *Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) G 6-6 205 08/23/78 Lower Merion HS/USA 16 30 *#Stephen Curry (Golden State) G 6-3 185 03/14/88 Davidson/USA 1 35 *Kevin Durant (OKC) F 6-9 230 09/29/88 Texas/USA 5 32 *Blake Griffin (L.A. Clippers) F 6-10 251 03/16/89 Oklahoma/USA 4 13 James Harden (Houston) G 6-5 220 08/26/89 Arizona State/USA 2 12 Dwight Howard (Houston) C 6-11 265 12/08/85 SW Atlanta Christian Aca./USA 8 0 #Damian Lillard (Portland) G 6-3 195 07/05/90 Weber State/USA 1 42 *Kevin Love (Minnesota) F 6-10 243 09/07/88 UCLA/USA 3 41 Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) F 7-0 245 06/19/78 DJK Wurzburg/Germany 12 9 Tony Parker (San Antonio) G 6-2 185 05/17/82 Paris BR/France 6 3 Chris Paul (L.A. Clippers) G 6-0 175 05/06/85 Wake Forest/USA 7 Head Coach: Scott Brooks (UC-Irvine) Assistant Coaches: Rex Kalamian (Cal Poly Pomona); Mark Bryant (Seton Hall); Brian Keefe (UNLV); Robert Pack (USC);Mike Terpstra (Northwest Nazarene) Athletic Trainer: Jon Ishop (New Orleans) *denotes starter #denotes first-time selection Follow Josh Newman on Twitter
