If something like this was happening in New York City or Chicago all of America would be up in arms and the entire hunt squad would be out in full force. I am not sure how we did not notice these people completely vanish from our lives — I hope at least their families have.
These are not missing children or women; I am talking about the missing NBA superstars that have been kidnapped. The thing that makes this even crazier is that it is being done in broad daylight and on national TV! These players need to create a club, join a support group, create a Facebook Page and band together to get their freedom. Or at the very least all join the NBA’s All-Mandela Team.
Through three long months of this NBA season, a select few players have had a longer year than others sitting on the bench watching rather than contributing. In most cases, these players are better than who is playing ahead of them. In other cases, they are more talented than the team they represent, as the win total for their squad is no representation of their efforts. All-Stars can play on bad teams, and good, young players have become great while reviving the team they play for. But come on, some organizations have zero plans of winning and simply harbor these players as hostages with contracts.
I’m not sure how we can save these players, but at least we can recognize them. As the All-Star starters and reserves have now been named, it is time to release the NBA’s All-Mandela Team:
Point Guard: Steve Nash (Phoenix)
Steve Nash may be the most professional and classy guy in the NBA – and will not create a Carmelo Anthony situation – but he has every right to. Nash has managed to take one of the worst collections of talent to almost a .500 record all season long. Take a look, this team is “Cleveland-bad” without Nash. Nash scores or creates 26.7 percent of the Suns’ points and does so with the defensive solely focused on stopping him. Not to mention that at the age of 36, Nash is shooting an historic all-around percentage.
Shooting Guard: O.J. Mayo (Memphis)
By now we have all heard about O.J. Mayo’s off-court issues: fight on a plane with Tony Allen, then testing positive for DHEA resulting in a 10-game suspension. That is the negative. The positive is that Mayo is still one of the best young shooting guards in the NBA and can be an impact player (or missing piece) for a championship contender. Instead, Mayo has been buried behind Allen, Sam Young and Xavier Henry all season.
Small Forward: Tayshaun Prince (Detroit)
Seven years ago, Tayshaun Prince was the glue guy on an unbeatable championship team. Then he became a key piece in the rebuilding process. Now he is almost irrelevant. The Pistons did a great job drafting and signing players that play their best players’ positions. Owing to this log-jam, they are a repeat Lottery team with rotation issues. Prince is the definition of a “team-first” player – he sacrifices anything needed to get the win. Whether it is defense, rebounding, spot-up shooting or general leadership, Prince is a guy who can be placed onto any team’s roster without hurting chemistry.
Power Forward: Kevin Love (Minnesota)
If you like double-doubles out of the power forward position, take your pick of 20-20 or 30-30 and Kevin Love can do it. If someone asked you who is having a better season statistically between Love and Blake Griffin, you might immediately think Blake. But outside of highlight dunks, near fights with veterans and SportsCenter Top 10 moments, Love is statistically having the superior season. He will not blow you away athletically, but his talents are being wasted in a historical way in Minnesota.
Center: Anderson Varejao (Cleveland)
There are not many good things to say about the Cavaliers this season, but they do have one of the best energy guys in the NBA in Anderson Varejao. Maybe it was a good thing he went down with a potential season-ending injury, which saved him the embarrassment that is this season. After getting off to a good start averaging career highs in points (9.1), rebounds (9.7) and blocks (1.2), the Cavs big went down and the team has yet to win. Not saying they would be winning with him either.
The Bench
Richard Hamilton (Detroit)
Antawn Jamison (Cleveland)
Grant Hill (Phoenix)
Carl Landry (Sacramento)
Kyle Lowry (Houston)
What do you think? Who should be freed?
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