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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

All-Star voting

The NBA All-Star Game is quickly approaching, and per usual Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard all find themselves at the top of the balloting. No surprise there. But as you may or may not have heard, there's a conspiracy that threatens to destroy my favorite midseason exhibition. And we, the fans, started it.
If voting ended today, Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady and Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson would find themselves starting in the 2010 All-Star Game. Does anyone else feel my pain?
I'm not sure what goes through the minds of millions of voters, but I wouldn't vote T-Mac onto my Bookstore Basketball team (yep, we're that good). Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're looking at a guy who has never even advanced past the first round of the playoffs, a guy who can't find a single team to trade for him and a guy who single-handedly ruined my fantasy team in 2008 because of "knee injuries."
And then I finally realized who to blame. China.
Now don't get me wrong, because I happen to believe that Chinese fans are among the most knowledgeable and faithful fans of the NBA. But in the words of Ricky Bobby, lay off the peyote people.
We all know your national hero Yao is out for the year and he's not coming back. That doesn't mean you have to show your support by voting for a bench bum who can't even hold his own in the NBA anymore. I bet Yao doesn't even like T-Mac. What, you think they hang out on the weekends with Luis Scola and play Yahtzee? Doubt it.
But enough talk of McGrady. How about the ageless wonder himself, Allen Iverson?
The "Answer" has been anything but for the past five years. He was the centerpiece in what will probably go down as the worst trade in the history of the NBA, leading the Detroit Pistons to a first-round exit in the 2009 playoffs.
But what am I talking about. I mean he's supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talkin' about an exhibition. Not a game. Not a game. We talkin' about an exhibition.
There's a reason he's never been featured on the "NBA Cares" commercials.
Bottom line, don't keep great players, deserving players, like Monta Ellis and Ray Allen out of a meaningless game that we care so much about. As I always say, if you wouldn't put them on your fantasy team, don't put them on your All-Star rosters.


The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.