I didn't think so.
Raise your hand if you think Kevin Garnett and his 14 ppg and 7 rpg should be starting over Chris Bosh and his 24 ppg and 11 rpg.
Again, I didn't think so.
This is the time in the NBA season where great players are snubbed and questionable decisions are made regarding the starters for the All-Star game. There are plenty of radio talk shows and columns about the travesty of Chauncy Billups exclusion and Iverson's undeserved starting role.
But the truth is the NBA fans have a right to vote because it's only one meaningless game. With that being said, there is a way to make the All-Star game an interesting and fun game for all types of fans.
There are mainly three types of fans in the NBA. The fans of individuals, who will send their man to the game every year, the fans of teams, who only vote for their guys, and the fans of the game, looking to send the best performers to Dallas.
I am a fan of the game and would love to see Rose or Rondo get the starting nod over Iverson, but I understand the appeal of people who are drawn in by A.I.'s reputation as one of the best and his flash and flare. So for the NBA to please everybody, here is how the game should be formatted.
Fans' Choice vs League's Choice
Forget the East vs West, it's not that interesting. Let's have the All-Star game be a matchup of the 10 highest vote-getters from the fans, against 10 players the coaches and general managers select. In essence, this would mean the starting five from the current All-Star squads would matchup against 10 of the 12 reserves chosen by the league.
There are a few reasons why this game would be a ratings record-breaker.
The most obvious is the great storylines that would be created. If you applied the Fans' Choice vs League's Choice game this year, the starting five for both squads would look something like this.
Fans' Choice: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard
League's Choice: Derrick Rose, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol
We've all seen James vs Bryant before, but wouldn't it be awesome to watch them play together outside of the Olympics? I know I would want to see teammates go at each other, like Bryant vs Gasol or Paul Pierce vs Kevin Garnett (Pierce was a reserve this season).
The game would be interesting to watch and the fans would still get their choices while deserving players such as Rose, Nowitzki and Bosh would get to start. The voting wouldn't even have to change. Fans choose their five favorite players from the West by position, and their five favorite from the East by position — those 10 players would compose the team.
The league then gets to choose from the "leftovers" and create its own team.
It would give the league a fresh game almost every fan would enjoy with intriguing teams and matchups.
Love it? Hate it? Have a better idea? Leave your thoughts below on your ultimate All-Star game.
A quick note: In honor of the "NBA: Where Amazing Happens" ad campaign, I will have a weekly series every Friday entitled "NBA: Where ___ Happens."
The first installment will appear next week and will be entitled "NBA: Where teams with generic nicknames like Thunder and Bobcats play awesome basketball happens."
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