Yesterday, I was reminded why I do not take the All-Star voting seriously. You’d think that the coaches would clean up the mess that the fans provided with their heavily biased selections. But instead, they created a larger tide of controversy with their inaccurate elections. Damian Lillard should have been the easiest to squeeze in the reserve rotation. It’s difficult to understand their logic sometimes.
It appears that All-Stars are selected based on a compilation of factors that includes number of games played, stats and team success. If we were to use those three components to narrow who’s deserving of an All-Star slot, these players jump to mind: John Wall, Stephen Curry, Pau Gasol, Kyle Lowry, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and LeBron James. What those players have in common is a great stat line, a winning record and a minute amount of games missed (if any at all). Those 12 players cannot be argued to be on the All-Star team.
However, the coaches, fans and whoever else agrees with the current players on the All-Star team do not seem to use that format while making their selection. I completely understand that some players simply won’t make it because there aren’t enough slots, but at least display some consistency.
There is a clash of contradictions when you look at the All-Star team. If you are factoring how many wins their team has, both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh should not make it. They shouldn’t allow Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant to be an All-Star either.
If we are more concerned about the numbers that the players average, then Marc Gasol and Al Horford shouldn’t be mentioned. If the number of games played is an issue, Kevin Durant certainly shouldn’t be on the ballot since he’s missed more games than he’s played.
Also, I am very puzzled at the fact that Zach Randolph and Nikola Vucevic were not even mentioned. Randolph has been a large reason why the Memphis Grizzlies have the second best record in the West. He posted 11 straight double-doubles since coming back from a knee injury, too. How can you overlook his dominance? Vucevic is a powerful force as well. He’s averaging 20 points and 11 boards per game. His team isn’t in the playoff picture now, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem with the voters anyway.
I think the viewers and fans would be more pleased if there was better consistency. Maybe implementing a format would be better. I believe Kenny “The Jet” Smith suggested having one or two players from each of the top 9 or 10 teams of each conference. That’s not a bad idea.
Right now, the voting is too random. I think we can do without having Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant in an All-Star game just like we can do without having the New York Knicks or Los Angeles Lakers play on a national television to get embarrassed most of the time.
Another suggestion is to mimic how the Pro Bowl has altered their All-Star selection. Eliminate teams siding with conferences and strip the authority that coaches and fans had. The only votes that count will be to determine the captain of the teams. Then allow the captains to draft their players like a pickup game. That would be a more ideal and structured approach rather than what we’re accustomed to.
I know the NBA is a business first, so I understand why they’d want the household names in the game, but we really need to ask this question: Is the All-Star game in place for those who are deserving to participate or for those names that ring bells?
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