RealGM

Nearly every year (or maybe every year?) new all stars are introduced. This year there are 6 such newcomers - 5 of them from the West (Haliburton, SGA, JJJ, Markkanen, Edwards, Fox). Also, another player was chosen 10 years after his last appearance (Holiday). Players like Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, James Harden, Towns, Gobert, were left out. Anthony Davis as well but he's not been too stable/available.

Is there a clear tendency to favor those who were never all stars? It's a much more "romantic" choice or underdog choice for sure.

If there is, is it a new thing? What other cases from the past you remember of players being omitted unjustly in favor of new introductions?

I imagine it pretty much balances out with the increased exposure of previous Allstars. I can see the Harden/Butler cases (though they aren't that strong), but Towns/Booker have missed even more time than Davis and Gobert hasn't been particularly good.

"Players like Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, James Harden, Towns, Gobert, were left out. Anthony Davis as well but he's not been too stable/available." All those players have had availability issues. Though I get there's an inconsistency here with JJJ getting in.

I think the opposite of all-star fatigue is true. The fan vote is all about brand recognition so it's really hard to crack into that group without becoming immensely popular. Vince, Kobe, and Iverson were making it every year no matter what their season was like. The coaches also tend to respect reputation rather than being super plugged into exactly how the player in performing in this season.

It's usually kind of hard to become a first time all-star. I think injuries opened up a lot of space this year.