Can Stern Even Make this Right?

(Boulder-CO) Well, it’s official! We are living in a communist country where the leading scorer in the NBA does not get voted to the All-Star game. Career best numbers, well they evidently don’t mean much to the coaches of the NBA! I don’t give a damn about Carmelo being suspended, I don’t give a damn how much you like Shawn Marion, Tracy McGrady, or Carlos Boozer, and if Kevin Garnett is still an All-Star after throwing the ball at an opposing player’s face and tossing out a couple of hooks while dancing like a butterfly than Carmelo should be an All-Star without a doubt! I can’t even believe this bologna right now, I mean, give it a break coaches of the NBA. You are all supposed to know something about basketball, but somehow you delirious twits left the league’s leading scorer off the All-Star game roster over what? Pimp slapping a known goon after he tried to purposely put another player in this league in a position that might have been dangerous to his livelihood?!?!

Here are the far inferior numbers of the so called, “All-Stars” that have been selected instead of and in comparison to Carmelo’s line of 31.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.3 steals:

First off, let’s look at the man who went to the All-Star game last year in Carmelo’s spot with numbers that were not on par with Carmelo’s last year either. He goes by the name of Tracy McGrady and his numbers, and his back, do not stand the tests of this simple comparison. Tracy is averaging 23.7 points, 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. Carmelo trumps him by eight points scoring, about half a rebound, a quarter of a steal, while only giving up two assists overall. Hmmm, doesn’t take a genius to see that Carmelo has better numbers in three out of the four categories now does it? I'm tacking this one up to the everyday fan that just votes on who used to be great instead of who is actually doing great this year.

Onward now on this trail of terror as we look at Shawn Marion’s numbers as his digits perish in the shadow of what Carmelo has accomplished. The X-Factor is posting a nice line of 18.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 1.6 assists, but is it nice enough to justify leaving Carmelo Anthony off the list? My answer to that is let’s be real! 12.4 more points, triple the assists, and while he is only grabbing a little bit more than half the rebounds of Marion… keep in mind that Shawn doesn’t play night-in and night-out with the league’s second leading rebounder (Marcus Camby) and the league’s number two rebounder per 48 minutes (Reggie Evans)! The All-Star game is supposed to be about the individual, and other than giving Marion the nod because he plays on the Suns this is a total and utter travesty.

Now for my favorite comparison because this player plays for the division rival Utah Jazz. Carlos Boozer is having a great year, and if any of the players I have mentioned DO belong on the reserves it is Boozer. However, when you look at the numbers, he still is not putting up overall numbers that outright justify him being on the All-Star team instead of Carmelo. Boozer’s line reads 22.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3 assists, and .9 steals. So if you do the simple math Carmelo is bettering Carlos by 9.2 points, an assist, and about half a steal. Are those rebounds still swaying you? How about if I told you that Carmelo Anthony blocks more shots than Boozer? Yea, that’s right; Carmelo averages more blocks than Boozer. Go do your homework if you don’t believe me.

So before you go ahead and start the argument that fighting has kept Carmelo Anthony off the roster first tell me how Kevin Garnett’s attempted face peg and follow-up impression of the rope-a-dope doesn't keep him from being an All-Star because I am dying to hear it!

Ok, now that I have that all out of my system there is still a small chance that Carmelo may still make the All-Star squad, but it would take an appointment for an injured player (Boozer) from none other than David Stern himself. The rest of the All-Star reserves are as follows, but I’ve had it! Even if Stern puts Carmelo’s name on the back of one of those jerseys it is all in vain because the coaches of this league dropped the ball big time. So much for those early reports from all those anonymous Western Conference coaches, eh?

Eastern Conference
F – LeBron James, Cleveland*

F – Chris Bosh, Toronto*

C – Shaquille O’Neal, Miami*

G – Dwyane Wade, Miami*

G – Gilbert Arenas, Washington *

R – Chauncey Billups, Detroit

R – Caron Butler, Washington

R – Vince Carter, New Jersey

R – Richard Hamilton, Detroit

R – Dwight Howard, Orlando

R – Jason Kidd, New Jersey

R – Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana

Head coach: TBD

Western Conference
F – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota*

F – Tim Duncan, San Antonio*

C – Yao Ming, Houston*

G – Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers*

G – Tracy McGrady, Houston*

R – Carlos Boozer, Utah

R – Allen Iverson, Denver

R – Shawn Marion, Phoenix

R – Steve Nash, Phoenix

R – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas

R – Tony Parker, San Antonio

R – Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix

Head coach: Mike D’Antoni, Phoenix
* denotes starter as voted on by the fans

All the details that I have illustrated in this post do not make me think that any of the players mentioned are not of All-Star caliber, but when compared to 'Melo there is just no comparison. I stick by my guns when I say that this is a real shame and a snub for the ages. I welcome alternate arguments, but don't say that I didn't warn you about where I stand. Oh and one more thing, it may seem crazy at this point, but congratulations to Allen Iverson for being named to the Western Conference reserves. May you come back from your twisted ankle on Friday night and assist the Nuggets in a four-game losing streak-ending victory.