NBA All-Stars: Who Got Snubbed?

The votes are in and the NBA All-Star reserves have been announced. Both the East and West rosters are set and all that is left is to play the game itself. I want to first begin by introducing the starters and reserves for each conference then go more in-depth with players unfairly left off the All-Star rosters.

-Eastern Conference-

Starters:

Guards- Dwayne Wade, Allen Iverson

Forwards- Lebron James, Kevin Garnett

Center- Dwight Howard

Reserves:

Guards- Joe Johnson, Devin Harris, Jameer Nelson

Forwards- Paul Pierce, Danny Granger, Rashard Lewis

Center- Chris Bosh

-Western Conference-

Starters:

Guards- Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul

Forwards- Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan

Center- Yao Ming

Reserves:

Guards- Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, Brandon Roy
Forwards- Dirk Nowitzki, David West, Pau Gasol
Center- Shaquille O' Neal

When I saw the list of reserves for this year's All-Star game, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the players deserving of a spot on the roster got one. All but one or two that is.

I have a problem with the fact that Shaquille O' Neal made it on the team as a reserve for the West instead of Al Jefferson. Jefferson (22.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.6 bpg) has far better numbers than O' Neal (18.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.6 ppg) and is a far better player and athlete at this point in each man's career. The only reason that The Big Aristotle is a reserve is because the Suns are on a bigger national stage than the lowly Timberwolves. That being said, I do not believe that Jefferson should be punished for being on a terrible team with a poor television market. Jefferson deserves the spot over Shaq and I believe the coaches made a huge mistake.

Another minor problem that I see is in the out West once again. New Orleans Hornets forward David West made the All-Star squad for a second year in a row this year. Now I know that over the past few seasons he has made a huge impact in turning his team around but there is one player that has better numbers and is the best player on his own team, Kevin Durant. The Oklahoma City Thunder turn to Durant every night to provide offense and leadership, something that West does not have to focus on doing night in and night out. Durant (24.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.7 apg) has better overall number that West (20 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and is a more consistent performer. Some will argue that Durant will get to be at All-Star weekend in the Rookie-Sophomore game but that is far below where he deserves to be. KD is an All-Star and just like Jefferson above, he suffers from a small market on the national level.

Make no mistake, the teams were picked better than most years, but to not have Durant and Jefferson in there is a joke.

Cory Guinn

cryguinn@yahoo.com

www.thejaystick.blogspot.com General Sports Writer