Ballots are big news in 2012; for the NBA’s purposes, however, the way it defines “big” on its own ticket is dramatically changing. Today the NBA was reported to reveal that instead of voting for two guards, two forwards and a center for the All-Star teams, it had eliminated the center position. Now you’ll just vote for three big men — a victory for forwards playing center everywhere (looking at you, Tim Duncan).
Even against the valid calls of, “It’s just All-Star Weekend,” it’s impossible not to look at the decision as anything but a big deal. Ever since its infancy stages of Mikan — when All-Star games were chosen by writers regardless of the position — the NBA has never dictated position changes like this. Even as modern teams have tinkered for years with the point-forward, four-guard lineups, etc., it’s a huge change. It’s a natural progression across different sports, too, with football seeing its teams introduce the hybrid Wildcat QB, a “rover” safety/linebacker blend and defensive ends who mix time between the line and outside linebacker. The difference is the NFL has never dictated, from the top down, positional changes like the NBA is doing by removing a position from consideration. Few teams use the fullback anymore, but it hasn’t been deleted from the glossary.
You can see this as either a broad shift in how basketball is played after the success of Miami’s small lineup last spring, or a realization of what had been brewing since the early 2000s. Chris Bosh started two games at center last season and asked not to play the five when he arrived from Toronto in free agency, but his shift to center allowed LeBron James play the four, which helped lead to the NBA title. Or, as Bosh’s position identity crisis — and maybe more importantly, the free agency recruiting bonanza for Roy Hibbert, a still-unproven true center — shows, maybe this was about recognizing there are simply few true centers playing today. As lineup cards stand, someone will always play center, but few are traditional posts in the mold Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal were in the 1990s, our last great era of centers. Trends about best style of play practices come and go in the NBA, so why did the NBA choose now to consolidate the forwards and center? It’s because of both of those reasons.
The three new, ambiguous big men All-Star positions will always be filled. When the day comes that no true center is on the floor at tip-off, let’s remember the game’s best moments that were supplied by centers.
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5. SHAQ JOINS THE JABBAWOCKEEZ
We’ll discuss his three MVP awards from this game, second all-time, later. For now, let’s remember the introduction to the 2009 All-Star game. The mask doesn’t quite fit O’Neal’s face, but for a 7-footer pushing three bills, Shaq fits into the troupe of half-Shaq-sized dancers oddly well.
4. THE MVPs
Shaq won his three MVPs, and we’ll get into Bob Pettit‘s four MVPs a little later, too, one of which was part of one of the greatest All-Star games in history. True centers have won an MVP award in every decade since the 1950s with the exception, somehow, of the 90s. Omitting Shaq’s performances (they’ll be discussed later), here are their lines:
George Mikan, 1953: The Original Laker had 22 points and 16 boards in a sign-of-the-times 40 minutes. It was only the third MVP award given out, and presented in front of the more than 10,000 who showed up to watch the game in beautiful Fort Wayne, Ind. It was a little different than the current ASW in several ways.
Wilt Chamberlain, 1960: 23 points and 25 boards is an incredible game, even by today’s standards where defense is optional. This was simply Chamberlain’s All-Star debut.
Bill Russell, 1963: 19 points and 24 rebounds and a number of unrecorded blocks in 37 minutes.
Bob Lanier, 1974: In just 26 minutes, he put up 24 points and 10 rebounds while shooting .733.
Ralph Sampson, 1985: Two years into his career, he scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds, shooting .667, in just 29 minutes.
3. SHAQ’S NO-MERCY AND 360-DEGREE DUNKS
O’Neal’s MVP legacy will be remembered as one of the best ever for his ability to mix the fun and the basketball of the entire weekend. I would argue that he was actually already honored for that blend in winning the 2008-09 award, which was more of a career achievement honor than anything else. Nonetheless, his lines from his three MVPs were:
1999-00 (co-MVP with Tim Duncan): 22 points, nine boards, three blocks in 25 minutes;
2003-04: 24 points (with nine dunks), 11 boards in 24 minutes;
2008-09: 17 points, five boards in almost 11 minutes.
But know this. Those three lines are not what will be remembered about his All-Star legacy. These two dunks are — especially his dunk over David Robinson that could have broken an arm. They’re not the classic Shaq dunk we’re used to, the two-foot dunk from under the hoop that ends in a flourish of pulling his feet up to his chest. That’s why they’re better than any MVP award.
2. THE ENTIRE 1962 GAME
Matadors play better defense than All-Star teams, and the games now are played with a walkthrough’s intensity the first half. If the early games lacked the polish we’ve come to expect since the inception of All-Star Weekend, their more serious approach led to some serious stat lines. The whole 1962 game was a spectacle for centers. Bob Pettit‘s MVP was earned with 25 points and 27 rebounds. Bill Russell had 12 and 12, and blocks weren’t recorded. Wilt Chamberlain was on a Felix Baumgartner level, however: 42 points, 24 rebounds, who knows how many blocks and shooting .739. All of those three centers had games that lived up to if exceeded their ’62 games, usually at the expense of each other, but the firepower concentrated in this single game is amazing.
1. DWIGHT HOWARD’S DUNK CONTESTS
Love him (a quiet minority), love his game (now more hands are raised) or despise him completely (the audience has spoken), what Dwight Howard can physically do at 6-11 and 260 pounds is astounding even by the NBA’s standard. Howard’s versatility is an example of why a positional shift doesn’t matter much. He’s as comfortable playing power forward, and as athletic as some guards, as he is at his true position.
Howard’s Dunk Contest appearances serve as proof. He competed in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and well before he changed the way we thought a trade demand could go wrong, he changed the way we thought a big man could jump. His Superman dunk may be discounted as more of a throw into the basket, but the sheer sight of seeing someone that large take off only a few feet inside the free throw-line — off two feet — was and is ridiculous. His encore? Dunking on a 12-foot hoop.
What do you think?
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