Where Is The Love?

"When I Open My Eyes I'll Be in Dallas"
The All-Star game sucks. It has particularly sucked for the last five or six years, but in general it’s always just been a showcase for dunks and unrealistically long range shots, which is kind of awesome, but only up to a certain point. Every year I lose interest about halfway through the second quarter, but the game does serve a captivating purpose. The All-Star team selections serve as a midseason milestone to remind us of the elite players and fan favorites within the NBA. This is an interesting method of marking history in the league and the system in which fans choose the starters and experts choose the reserves creates a balance that usually results in the best representation of top players. This system, however, is flawed. For one, players like Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson have been named to too many All-Star teams simply because they are popular, not necessarily because they are having a good season. This is generally ok because those that choose the reserve players judge performance alone, but when elite players are overlooked because they are not necessarily popular and then also denied a bench spot, the only thing that redeems the All-Star process is lost. Let’s look at who is supposedly leading the NBA this season:

Eastern Conference
Starters:
LeBron James – Miami
Amare Stoudemire – New York
Dwyane Wade – Miami
Derrick Rose – Chicago
Dwight Howard – Orlando
Reserves:
Ray Allen – Boston
Chris Bosh – Miami
Kevin Garnett – Boston
Al Horford – Atlanta
Joe Johnson – Atlanta
In my opinion the Eastern Conference has a pretty accurate breakdown, probably because there is less talent to pick from. There are only a few teams represented here which is unfortunate but the truth is there are only a few good teams in the Eastern Conference to choose from. I don’t know what they were thinking with the West though:

Western Conference
Starters:
Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City
Carmelo Anthony – Denver
Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles (Lakers)
Chris Paul – New Orleans
Yao Ming – Houston
Reserves:
Tim Duncan – San Antonio
Manu GInobili – San Antonio
Pau Gasol – Los Angeles (Lakers)
Blake Griffin – Los Angeles (Clippers)
Dirk Nowitzki – Dallas
Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City
Deron Williams – Utah
I don’t care how much of a national hero he is, Yao Ming needs to be banned from the voting at this point. There’s no way he’s going to play in this game and frankly I almost forgot that he is even still an NBA player. Most notably, the reserve selectors made a huge error in ignoring Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge. How could they possibly give Tim Duncan the spot over Aldridge who is averaging 21 and 9, let alone Kevin Love who is averaging 21 AND 15 REBOUNDS. If that isn’t All-Star caliber play, I don’t know what is. The selectors have done more than just ignore a great player in Love (who will probably get a spot when Yao Ming decides he can’t play) but have left out a player who might not be that popular but more than deserves the recognition that comes with an All-Star spot. They have failed to perform their role in the only even semi-important aspect of the All-Star game, a roster of players who represent the best and most popular players from the season and will be remembered as the top performers of 2010-11.

Allan and Anfernee Must Read This Blog

Well Reggie Miller's Retired All-Star Squad has created quite a bit of hype already and, in an unlikely coincidence, All-Star Allan Houston is considering a return to the NBA and Penny Hardaway has signed with the Miami Heat.
The 36 year-old Houston is more than willing to sacrifice his Knicks legacy in order to play about 10 minutes a night and put up the occasional three pointer. When asked if he would play on Reggie Miller's Retired All-Star Squad, however, he had the following to say. "I'm looking to play a supporting role to some of these great young stars,'' Houston said. "More of a leadership role, someone who can add experience and stability late in games". So, he wouldn't play with other old washed up has-beens. Maybe Ostertag can talk him into it.
Penny Hardaway hasn't looked back at his Orlando legacy as he joins the already elderly Heat. He'll join Gary Payton and possibly Alonzo Mourning in the team that is slowly turning into Reggie Miller's Retired All-Star Squad.
Both of these guys should have stayed retired, but didn't. They earn a spot on the Squad.

Reggie Miller's Retired All-Star Squad

The fact that Reggie Miller is actually considering making an NBA “comeback” forced me to consider a team comprised entirely of old has-beens to be known as “Reggie Miller’s Retired All-Star Squad”. Despite the name, these players don’t actually have to be retired, but they should be. These are players who experienced some level of success on some level of play and, despite being old, choose to either return and disgrace whatever legacy they left (i.e. Reggie Miller), or refuse to unclench the nails they have dug into whatever amount of achievment they have experienced (i.e. Dikembe Mutombo). Sometimes they are just such a perfect combination of bad and old that they earn a spot (i.e. Greg Ostertag). In any case, they should retire and/or stay retired.

PG- Gary Payton (39)
SG- Reggie Miller (41)
SF- Scottie Pippen (41)
PF- Greg Ostertag (34)
C- Dikembe Mutombo (41)
Honorable Mentions: Alonzo Mourning, Aaron McKie and Sam Cassell

Gary Payton: As the 2006 NBA Finals taught us, this guy is the most useful player on Reggie Miller’s Retired All-Star Squad. And yet, he’s useless. He used to be pretty good, but these days he’s known as “the guy DWade used to play as in NBA Live ‘98”. The Glove needs to retire already and be remembered for his success with the Supersonics, not as the player trying to shimmy himself back into relevancy.

Reggie Miller: He’s about to turn 42 and still contemplating a return to the league. Danny Ainge promised him a solid 15 minutes a game… not worth sacrificing his Pacers legacy. He managed to play on the same team for his entire 18-year career and will be remembered as the best Pacer to ever beat the Knicks. He even found a great job yakking it up on TNT. Besides, a team with Pierce, Allen and Miller won’t be that cool after the novelty wears off.

Scottie Pippen: After announcing that he was interested in making a comeback in February, Pippen proceeded to embarrass himself during All-Star weekend in the Haier Shooting Stars competition. He was unable to land himself on a team last season (shocker), but don’t think he’s given up the fight. Maybe he has something to prove because all the focus was on Jordan during his career, but regardless, he’s got rings and he’s got money so there’s really no reason to even think about returning.

Greg Ostertag: He may be the youngest player on this squad, but he makes up for it by being the worst. Though he doesn’t have a “legacy” to disgrace, the fact that he thinks a team would want him to contribute 15 minutes is embarrassing enough.

Dikembe Mutombo: He’s old, he’s bad and he won’t leave. He may be personable and socially conscious but he can’t play like he used to. He should accept that he’s the second best shot-blocker and one of the most dynamic rebounders ever, and retire already.

The Bench: Copy and paste Mutombo’s paragraph for Alonzo Mourning. Just like Payton, he should have bowed out after he won the championship.
Aaron McKie is just terrible. He stole the 6th man of the year award and that’s the only thing he has to show for his entire career. Bet you didn’t know he’s actually on the Lakers now. Weird, right?
Sam Cassell is a mummy. He was once the pharaoh of all the Western Nile, but today he is a 30,000-year-old basketball player. He was actually too old to make the All-Star Retired Squad. Go back to the crypt, Sam.

When some of today’s brightest stars blossom into players like these, hope they retire and stay retired.

Ballers Behind Bars All-Star Squad

As my “Basketbrawl” post proved, NBA players do what they want when they want. I’m definitely not going to try to stop them, but the boys in blue throughout the country have prevailed time after time, sending ballers behind bars every so often. The obvious question is, if all bad boy players were in the pen at the same time and they were on a team (gridiron gang style), who would start? Okay, so that question isn’t so obvious, but I’m writing about it anyway. Check the roster:

PG- Allen Iverson
SG- Kobe Bryant
SF- Ron Artest
PF- Rasheed Wallace
C- Jermaine O’Neal
Honorable Mentions: Stephen Jackson, Sebastian Telfair and Eddie Griffin.

Let me break it down for you,

Allen Iverson: After allegedly choosing Georgetown because the coach got him out of jail back in ‘93, AI was on a slippery slope with the law. He was sent back to the big house for possession of a gun and marijuana in ’97 and most recently, he was put under house arrest in 2002 for breaking and entering and then threatening two men with a gun. Plus, leaving Philly like that was a crime.

Kobe Bryant: Growing up in Italy and then the suburbs of Philadelphia doesn’t exactly breed a mass murderer and Kobe is no exception. Although never actually sent to jail, I’m still putting him on the squad because he’s definitely a rule breaker and as a basketball felon, it doesn’t get any more talented. His is the most infamous trial in NBA history and he’s avoided conviction by the skin of his teeth.

Ron Artest: This guy might actually be the biggest bad boy of them all. He disobeys rules on and off the court, taking a big part in the most infamous basketbrawl of all time. He’s been charged with domestic violence more than once and he’s more than willing to pick fights with fans.

Rasheed Wallace: Besides leading the league in techs for the last 382 years straight, Sheed is a certified thug. Having been charged for possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended license and he’s been fined thousands upon thousands of dollars by the league, Rasheed plays by his own rules. Although he has matured a little since his Jail Blazers days, Sheed is one of the top ten scariest people in the world.

Jermaine O’Neal: Admittedly, I was desperate for a Center, but this guy did get his hands dirty in that little scuffle with Indiana fans a few years back. After being suspended 15 games, he technically did have to go to court to see if he could play again and I wouldn’t want to meet this guy in a dark alley.

The Bench: Stephen Jackson shoots people. He’s never been caught, but it’s basically a fact. He has actually been charged of assault and he hates refs, but mark my words, he’ll be getting a life sentence one day.
Sebastian Telfair just barely escaped the Jail Blazers without arrest but now the Celtics don’t want anything to do with him since he’s been charged with possession of a firearm. Eddie Griffin was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon (trying to kill someone) and marijuana possession. This guy might be lacking on the court, but off it he’s just nuts enough to ride the bench for this all-star team.

The Bad Boys of Basketball want you to remember, they're rich and they do what they want. To see more outlaws, check this out: http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2005/07/nba-players-that-get-in-trouble-with_20.html