It’s because that weekend, the NBA’s most popular players will take on each other in the annual All-Star Game.
These players get voted into the starting line-up or onto the bench of either the east-coast or the west-coast team, depending on where they play. (For example: a New York Knicks player will play for the East, while an LA Laker suits up for the West.)
Let’s see who gets the privilege of starting for the West in the most spectacular game this side of an NBA Finals Game Seven:
WEST
Center: Yao Ming (Rockets)
Power forward: Kevin Durant (Thunder)
Small forward: Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets)
Shooting guard: Kobe Bryant (Lakers)
Point guard: Chris Paul (Hornets)
Yao Ming?? Seriously?? This is what you get when you let the Chinese people vote – to them it doesn’t matter that Ming hardly played this season (hell, I don’t think the Rockets even need him anymore); they just want to see their man in the game.
I’d take Marcus Camby over the Giant Chinese Bean-Pole any day. Granted, Camby’s in the twilight of a career that wasn’t even that spectacular to begin with, but I still cherish the memories of him energizing the amazing ’99 Knicks during his injury- and foul-prone tenure at the City of Bright Lights’ basketball team. Camby put every ounce of his personality and flair into his often spectacular game back then. Consider me a fan for life.
You won’t hear me complaining about Durant, Anthony, Bryant (13th selection with 2.380.016 votes; Bryants the leading vote-getter) and Paul though: that’s a nasty-lookin’ team right there.
Let’s take a look at the Eastern high-flyers:
EAST
Center: Dwight Howard (Magic)
Power forward: Amar’e Stoudemire (Knicks)
Small forward: LeBron James (Heat)
Shooting guard: Dwyane Wade (Heat)
Point guard: Derrick Rose (Bulls)
As a Knicks guy, I’m proud to see Amar’e in the starting line-up. But even if I hadn’t been a New York fan, I’d still have appreciated his name on this list of elite players: Stoudemire’s rescuscitated a franchise that had been sleepwalking for the past decade. He's reinstalled some much-needed confidence in the NBA’s most valuable team. And I’m sure he’ll kill on the Staples Center court too, come February.
Don’t get me started on the Heat guys though – I respect their ability to put the ball in the hole, but there’s this nagging too-much, too-soon feeling that creeps up to me when I think about the hyped-to-a-crisp Miami team. I think the ‘Heatles’, plain and square, suck.
Don’t get me wrong: I think both James and Wade are great players; it’s just that I don’t like their jock-style swagger. I’d haven taken the rock-solid Paul Pierce over James and – of course – the Knicks’ point guard Raymond Felton over Wade.
It’s good to see Rose out there though, along with Howard.
In the end, it doesn’t matter one bit what anyone thinks about aforementioned ten players – what does count is the certainty that they’ll put up one hell of a show on February 20th.
BE SURE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THIS
SLAM writer Tzvi Twersky lived the dream yesterday, having been invited by Jordan Brand to try out their brand-new Jordan 2011 sneaker. On the Madison Square Garden hardwood. As LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the rest of the Miami Heat sat courtside. (Now that’s what I call 'pressure'! 'Pressure'!)
No comments:
Post a Comment