All-Star Woes

Given the fact that I am a huge Portland Trail Blazers fan, I thought that I would combine my passion for writing with a long track record of following the pinwheel protagonists.

The first topic I would like to discuss is Damian Lillard being snubbed from the All-Star game.

In today's era where the fans get to vote for the starting five players of the big game, many big name players (a little past their prime) are being selected simply because of their popularity. Most notably this year, Mr. Kobe Bryant. I think that we can all agree that the "Black Mamba" is easily one of the greatest players to ever grace the hardwood, but the fact that he was selected for the game is a waste of a spot. Kobe will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn rotator cuff, and I feel bad for the guy honestly. My point here is that the All-Star game should not just be a popularity contest, it should give credit where credit is due. Is Kevin Durant an All-Star? Absolutely. He is one of the top 5 players in the entire world. However, as Charles Barkley noted, the man missed more games then he played in this season.

Now, even though Demarcus Cousins is clearly having a monster season (23.6 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg), his team is having a less than stellar run once again. Sacramento starts today off with a record of 17-29, putting them 20.5 games behind the surging bay area bombers. Conversely, despite Portland's recent slump they still find themselves at the top of the Northwest Division with a 32-16 record. Damian Lillard is having another fantastic year (21.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, 4.6 rpg), and we have seen the growth in his confidence become very evident. Surely, we can agree that Cousins is statistically more than qualified to be on the All-Star team...however how much should a team's record be taken into account? I would have to argue that being an All-Star is not just an individual award. All-Star performances can be heavily influenced by the teammates that are around you. More consideration needs to be given to players that are on winning teams and are still putting up elite level statistics.

This is where I really like Adam Silver's idea to possibly expand the All-Star Roster to match the maximum number of players that a typical NBA team can have on a given night. I like the idea. Not just because I wanted Lillard on the team, but because there were quite a few very deserving players that were left to wonder what could have been.