Magic an All-Star? NBA Painted Itself Into a Corner

Top National Basketball Assn. executives held meetings late into Wednesday night to determine whether or not they have been dishonest with fans.

They didn’t look at the issue that way. Their intentions were honorable. They wanted to be fair. They wanted to do the right thing.

The issue is not an easy one. There is no precedent for deciding how to treat one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA after he retires because he has the virus that causes AIDS but is still voted an All-Star starter by the fans.

But if the league is to maintain the integrity of the All-Star process it has devised, it has no choice except to allow Magic Johnson to start for the Western Conference in the Feb. 9 All-Star game in Orlando if that is the wish of fans.

Here are the facts:

--Several league executives indicated Wednesday that Johnson is one of the top two vote-getters among Western Conference guards. All-Star starters will be announced Thursday. NBA commissioner David Stern already has decided that Johnson will be allowed to play in the game. The issue is whether he will be allowed to start.

--Johnson “retired” Nov. 7, but not officially. He still is on the Los Angeles Lakers’ injured list, which means that technically he could be activated at any time. He still works out before every Lakers home game. He said he has not ruled out playing in the playoffs. Who’s to say the Lakers won’t activate him next week?

--The NBA allowed fans to begin voting for All-Stars the first week of the season when it was obviously impossible to decide who the best players would be in the first half of the season. The league is forced to begin balloting that early to allow fans as many opportunities as possible to vote for starters.

But by encouraging fans to vote that early, the league is clearly stating that All-Star voting is a popularity contest. The fans began voting for Johnson before he “retired.” If the fans decide Johnson is one of the two most popular guards in the West, the league is bound to honor the wishes of the fans. If it does not, then the fans should not be allowed to vote.

--The league has known since it received the first returns that fans were voting in great numbers for Johnson. If he was not going to be allowed to start, fans should have been told a month ago; they should have been told to vote for someone else. Johnson’s vote totals should never have been released. Fans should not have been teased. By notifying fans that Johnson was among the top two, the league encouraged fans to vote for him. To not state a public position on Johnson as a starter was to mislead fans.

--The alternative to Johnson starting is to allow the guard with the third-most number of votes to start. The theory is that if Johnson was not on the ballot, the guard who finished third would have finished second.

But that is not necessarily true. Fans vote for two Western guards. Who’s to say they would not have voted for the guards who finished fourth, fifth or sixth in the voting? Who’s to say the order without Johnson would have been exactly the same?

--Some may argue that to vote for a player who has not played is sheer stupidity. But the league never has legislated against All-Star stupidity before. Two years ago, A.C. Green was on the way to a year when he averaged 12.9 points and shot 48 percent from the field. He was inexplicably selected as an All-Star starter, which was dumb. But the league did nothing.

Obviously the choices for the league are not easy. It’s a delicate and emotional issue. It would be proper for the league to create a 13th spot on the All-Star team for the player who finishes third among guards. That is the correct way to take care of that issue.

But there should be no argument as it relates to Johnson. The league put his name on the ballot, the league did not tell fans not to vote for him, the league published his voting totals and the league says the five players in each conference who receive the most votes start the All-Star Game.

The league has created the system. It must not only live with it, but also preserve the integrity of it.