Thursday night the starters for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando will be announced. This is typically never as interesting as the reserve selections, which come later. After the respective head coaches in each conference vote the benches in, the annual Who Got Snubbed? lists can really take off. If you can’t find a worthy player left off a roster to throw your support behind, you’re just not trying hard enough. It’s an all-star tradition just as much a part of the event as the three-point shooting contest or the shooting stars event. Yup, it’s that big. Complaining. Debating.
With the starters, what can you do? They’re voted in by us, the fans. And let’s be honest: we fans as a whole don’t always have to put a whole lot of thought into this — we’ll omit the eternal Yao Ming Starting Nod, since as long as he was on a roster he’d be in there regardless. And if you don’t think he’s getting write-in votes this season, I’m willing to bet you’re mistaken. The league’s best and brightest are usually easy to distinguish and usually more than deserving of a starting position. Sometimes it remains a popularity contest, a survey as to which names resonate with the general public more than others, but most of the time a case could still be made for the player in question to be an All-Star in some respect, making the arguments easier to forget.
As of January 19th, the leading vote-getters for the starting spots looked like this, first in the Eastern Conference: Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard.
And in the West: Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum.
With the Knicks struggling mightily, Anthony’s selection is probably the most questionable one, but all told, it’s hard to find a pick that sticks out, a la Yao Ming 2011. It’s no surprise that these names are the standard of play and popularity in the league today. Really, if these spots hold up come Thursday, the announcement will serve as getting the easy step out of the way, and making room for the interesting part.
The reserve options which are announced February 9th, will run the gambit from veterans, all-star mainstays,
those having injury-riddled seasons, to up-and-comers who’ve arguably played their way into a roster spot yet face the challenge of breaking through the All-Star surface for the first or second time (LaMarcus Aldridge comes to mind). This is where the deserving are supposed to be chosen over the brand names, because, after all, the fans are the ones who get to make those obvious calls, with the coaches entrusted to fill out the rest.
Thursday night gets the process going. If this were “Wheel of Fortune,” Thursday night would take away the ‘R,’ ‘S,’ ‘T,’ ‘L,’ ‘N,’ and ‘E.’ From there, we wait to see if our expectations match who should be and, ultimately, will be selected along with the league’s mega-stars. For what is often thought of as a giant party with a basketball game (of sorts) at the end, it’s no surprise that simply being invited is most important.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
