I promise I’m not being a hater.
I understand this is the second column I’ve written arguing against Kevin Love as a 2011 NBA All-Star despite his leading the League in rebounding and putting up better overall numbers than the ground-bound Western Conference power forward I wanted to see get a ticket to L.A.: Zach Randolph. But having K-Love miss out on his first All-Star nod this time has nothing to do with preference. It’s about the rules.
Either ignored or forgotten last night when Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan, Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki were bestowed with All-Star honors, was the rule that says NBA coaches who choose All-Star reserves must choose a center. That’s a significant part of the reason Al Horford is headed to his second straight All-Star Game for the East.
As stated in the NBA’s own press release yesterday:
The 14 players selected — seven each from the Eastern and Western Conferences — were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to
vote for seven players in their respective conferences — two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.
Granted, Gasol has played more games at center for the L.A. Lakers this year than he has at power forward, and Duncan has essentially been playing center for San Antonio ever since David Robinson retired. But they are still listed on the official NBA All-Star ballot as forwards. So outside of starter Yao Ming, there are technically no centers on the West roster.
Commissioner David Stern is charged with choosing Yao’s injury replacement, and while names like Steve Nash, LaMarcus Aldridge and Love are the popular candidates, if Stern chooses to abide by the rules of his own operation, he’ll have to correct the coaches’ mistake and go with Nene or Tyson Chandler.
Of the two, Nene would be my pick. He is averaging 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds on the heels of a 22-point, 10-board effort to help the Nuggets beat Aldridge’s Blazers on Wednesday. In a season of turmoil, trade rumors and maddening inconsistency in Denver, Nene has been the team’s most consistent, reliable player. He is connecting on 64 percent of his field goals (leading the NBA), hitting 75 percent from the line, and has eight double-doubles as the third option (at best) on offense. The Nuggets are 2.5 games out of the Northwest Division lead and currently seeded sixth in the conference.
Chandler is averaging 10.2 points and 9.3 boards, and is the defensive lynchpin of the second-seeded team in the West. He was also part of Team USA’s gold-medal World Championship team last summer, and Stern is all about promoting USA Basketball. But Chandler also lost a lot of All-Star campaign momentum during the Mavericks’ recent stretch of futility while Nowitzki was hampered by a knee injury. Meanwhile, despite missing key teammates due to injuries and some of them mentally being checked out due to distractions, Nene has consistently produced while carrying Denver’s frontline.
Emeka Okafor also deserves a mention, averaging 11.1 points, 10.1 boards and 1.8 blocks for the 4th-place Hornets, who have a Top-5 defense. But Okafor just strained his oblique recently and could miss the next three weeks. There’s no point replacing an injured guy with another injured guy.
If we’re being realistic, though, Love or Nash will most likely be the one headed to All-Star as Stern’s pick. Maybe Aldridge. And honestly? Tony Parker and Monta Ellis both have a better shot of making it than Nene or Chandler. Also honestly? I wouldn’t be mad at that. Plus, I think the NBA All-Star guidelines should have been changed years ago to blend centers and power forwards into one “Big Man” category, to go with “Wing” (two-guards and small forwards) and a separate “Point Guard” category.
But under the current rules, if Stern decides to play it straight, don’t be shocked if Nene leaves Love feeling snubbed again.
