There’s Something in the Stars

Be it ever so corporate and overgrown, there’s no taking the magic out of the NBA All-Star game.

Of course, it’s not always because of the game, which can range from “mildly entertaining” to “why bother?” Nor is it that anachronism known as the dunk contest, which most stars come to regard as beneath contempt as soon as they win it, and even rookies such as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony now shun.

There’s still one thing that hasn’t turned into a hype: the actual selection.

That’s still special, a rare distinction that is conferred on only 24 of the league’s 348 players, so that the designation “All-Star” means something.

In the NFL, the designation of All-Pro is diluted by the seeming dozens who drop out because of injuries, with the Pro Bowl game coming after their gantlet of a season.

Then there’s baseball, which pioneered this art form, but now expands its rosters and demands that every team be represented, so that Barry Bonds’ selection means no more than that of some Detroit Tiger or Tampa Bay Devil Ray.

Of course, the times being what they are, there are legions lined up to similarly dilute the NBA’s distinction.

Even in a subculture that was busy rehashing last Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show and Shaquille O’Neal’s postgame show, a great wail went up when the NBA All-Stars were announced and James and Anthony weren’t among them.

In the media now, there’s nothing as important as a “buzz” and nothing worse than a “buzzkill.” The two rookies are this season’s fresh, new story and they’re the ones everybody is supposed to want to see in this game.

Of course, even in a system skewed by your kids’ votes for players who are closest in age to them while you wait for their Happy Meals, “everybody” didn’t vote the dynamic duo into the game, did they?

Nevertheless, on ESPN, Dan Patrick looked apoplectic and Tim Legler indignant. Marc Stein wrote on espn.com, “There’s something wrong with the system.” On CNN’s “Headline News,” an anchor noted Anthony’s name was “another surprising absence.”

There’s something wrong with the system, all right, but that wasn’t it. James, who just turned 19, may not miss another All-Star team for 15 years, but it’s refreshing that they’re not running the entire league around him, until, say, he turns 20, makes the playoffs or gets his shooting percentage over 42%.

If selection is meaningful, missing out must be, by definition, disappointing. There will always be arguments about who deserved to be the last pick, even if the media don’t have to carry on as if it were a tragedy. It was notable that James even made it arguable, which he did.

On the other hand, the rules had already been bent, which is why he got as close as he did.

Squads should have five guards, five forwards and two centers. Even without James, the East has six guards -- starters Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady, reserves Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Paul Pierce and Michael Redd -- not to mention Vince Carter, a guard who now plays forward for the Toronto Raptors.

Of the guards who finished ahead of him, James is outscoring only one, Kidd, whose place is secure. James is shooting better than only one, Iverson, whose place is also secure. James’ team has won more games than only one, McGrady’s, and his place is still safe.

The Anthony “controversy” is a joke, since forwards averaging 19 points and shooting 42% aren’t so special in the West.

Of course, Anthony doesn’t have a clue, insisting he or Andre Miller had to make it because the Nuggets are having such a great season. Indeed, it’s a lot better than the last two, in which they averaged 22 wins, but the reaction outside Denver can be summed up in two words: That’s nice.

Anthony may be a budding All-Star but first he’ll have to pass up not only someone who beat him out but a lot who didn’t, such as Chris Webber, Zach Randolph, Elton Brand, Pau Gasol, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, who are all better than he is.

If the modern athlete has an exaggerated sense of entitlement, it’s not really his fault. He’s at the center of a system that leads him to believe he’s supposed to get everything he wants. If there isn’t enough to go around, someone must have been cheated.

In what is becoming an annual rite of the NBA’s winter, the team campaigns for him, the local media leads cheers and the national media plays up close calls as if they were outrages. So we get this remarkable passage in a wire-service game story after last week’s Miami loss at New Jersey:

“Lamar Odom, who was not selected to the All-Star game despite averaging 16.9 points and 9.8 rebounds, had 27 points and 12 rebounds in showing what fans will miss at the midseason showcase of the NBA’s top talent.”

Odom is playing well, but 16.9 points a game put him 37th in league scoring at the time, and everyone who’s playing well doesn’t get to be an All-Star.

I may be a cockeyed optimist, but we’ve gotten through all the others without Odom and we just may make it again.

Faces and Figures

Not that this is getting out of hand but: Portland’s Randolph had one of the stronger cases but played with one of the worst teams and wasn’t selected.

“People are talking about Carmelo and LeBron being snubbed, but I think I got the worst of it all,” Randolph said. “But I’m happy for everybody who made it. It is just motivation for me for the future. I will just try to make it next year.”

Then there were the classy guys, always in short supply but present nonetheless. The Clippers’ Brand and the Sacramento Kings’ Mike Bibby were disappointed but so gracious, they wouldn’t even admit to it....

Minnesota and West Coach Flip Saunders, on James and Anthony’s saying they won’t attend as injury replacements, which is how Kevin Garnett made his first appearance: “They might be young. That may be the difference from those guys and KG, in that KG has an unbelievable amount of respect for the game. And I’m sure they were hurt, just like Spree [Latrell Sprewell] was hurt. There’s 17-18 guys that deserve to be All-Stars. Only 12 get to go.” ...

Even Utah insiders think Andrei Kirilenko’s selection was premature. The second-year forward is erratic on offense, but his long arms and unusual quickness make him a defensive force. He’s on pace to join Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson as the only players to average more than two blocks and two steals. The coaches, who voted in Kirilenko, not only love defense, they’re impressed by statistics....

Bull General Manager John Paxson is down on most of his players, and he has company in Coach Scott Skiles, who sounds as if he’s losing it too.

Told that Eddy Curry, who’d just scored 75 points in three games, had broken his single-game assist record, Skiles asked, “How many did he have, two?”

Skiles on the young Bulls: “We talk to all our young guys about all facets of the game, from, ‘Don’t lose your practice shorts,’ to ‘Don’t park in the handicapped spot [at the practice facility]’ to how to mentally prepare for a game. This is a league with high-maintenance guys.” ...

Toronto’s Jerome Moiso, making up in drama what he lacks in dedication, on going in for injured Chris Bosh last week: “Oh, man, I don’t know if you guys could see it, but I was kind of like, ‘What?’ I had to ask Lamond Murray, who was sitting next to me, ‘Did he call me?’ ” Coach Kevin O’Neill, accounting for the surprise factor: “Let’s be honest, in five years, Jerome has had two double-doubles.”

Commissioner David Stern, praising the Nuggets’ turnaround to the Denver Post’s Marc Spears: “The worst situation is a team that is too high in payroll, has no room under the cap and has no draft picks. Then you’re sort of in a blind canyon.” He didn’t mean his hometown Knicks, did he?