Show Me Some Love NBA All-Star Voters
Sports fans continue to show their ignorance when it comes to evaluating their favorite athletes for all-star games. The NBA All-Star Game starters were named on Thursday after the fans had the opportunity to vote since the first week of the shortened NBA season and Kevin Love was not one of them. The ineptitude of fans around the world is demonstrated once again. When will the NBA change their voting process?
NBA West All-Stars
Chris Paul, LAC
Kobe Bryant, LAL
Kevin Durant, OKC
Blake Griffin, LAC
Andrew Bynum, LAL
NBA East All-Stars
Derrick Rose, CHI
Dwayne Wade, MIA
Carmelo Anthony, NYK
LeBron James, MIA
Dwight Howard, ORL
My colleague Paul Troupe wrote a fantastic article earlier this week that you should check out….after you’re done reading my piece of course! However, Paul brings up a valid point and one that NBA commissioner David Stern should consider, why not let the NBA players vote for the starters in the All-Star Game? They are the people who witness these “stars” on a nightly basis at an up-close and personal manner. They are good evaluators of these stars’ talent.
If you question the 10 players selected to represent the NBA’s best in 2012, let me answer that question with one name = Kevin Love. How in the world the best power forward in the league not starting in the NBA All-Star Game? The “Minnesota Miracle Man” is averaging 25 points and 14 boards a night! If it wasn’t for Dwight Howard’s insane season, Love would be approaching untouched territory. Regardless, once again the fans have shown why they don’t deserve an opinion when it comes to deciding the best players in the world.
So many people get trapped in watching only their teams or the one’s around them in that specific market. Therefore, the opinions of these fans becomes altered and focused around ONLY these local teams. The Lakers and Clippers are on television every week, at the very least! Fans are force-fed these teams whether they like it or not. Just look at the West All-Stars if you disagree, four of the five are from the Los Angeles market with Kevin Durant being the only non-LA player selected to start; Chris Paul (Clippers), Blake Griffin (Clippers), Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Andrew Bynum (Lakers). Are you serious? Don’t get me wrong, I love Andrew Bynum’s game, love it. But I wouldn’t vote him in the All-Star Game this year unless I was getting paid to do so. Blake Griffin is amazing and extremely fun to watch, but his numbers are not nearly as impressive as Love’s. It’s sad and it exhibits professional sports biggest flaw to date: allowing fans to vote starters for all-star games.
Every year people will be disappointed by a few all-star selections/snubs. For years we saw China vote in Yao Ming to start the game, even when Ming was injured or did not play in the first half of the NBA season. That fact right there should tell you all you need to know about this outdated voting process. Vince Carter started All-Star Games for years after his prime, living off his Slam Dunk Championships for years beyond his true talent. It’s sad, but its the society we live in now. The NFL is the most well-run professional sport and they do everything right, except for guaranteed money. Baseball and basketball needs to take a page or a few hundred pages from the book of the National Football League.
If David Stern doesn’t want to put all the power into the NBA players’ hands (as we clearly saw during the lockout this summer), then he should allow the NBA writers to vote on all-stars. Sure, a few writers will vote on personal preference and that’s not fair, but a majority will make the right move and put the right players in the game.
There would be less personal politics going on with writers versus players voting. The league and its players are just like a grade school. Kids have free reign to do what they want, when they want, even occasionally throwing a temper tantrum until they get their way. Players would vote for their “boys” or guys they liked versus players who they liked less or were on enemy teams.
How can any NBA player evaluate talent? They are playing 82 games (66 this year) a year and always traveling. No NBA player can see another player all season, like most writers can accomplish. Therefore, most players votes would be based off a small sample size of a player instead of the big picture. Kevin Love is the big picture and it’s a crime that he won’t be representing the starters for Western Conference in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.
Follow Tony Piraro on Twitter @TonyPiraro
