Should LeBron have been selected as an All-Star?

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:07 pm

One of the most prominent All-Star snubs in the East was rookie sensation...well, you know who I'm talking about. Steve Wilstein believes James belongs in All-Star game...do you?

by **- Ace -** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:19 pm

Lebron James would be a very exciting addition to the All Star Team but all the guards selected in front of him were deserving. I don't think you can blame the coaches for screwing up because Magloire was voted in since they had to follow the rules and vote in a backup center. If Magloire was designated as a guard and Lebron was snubbed then everyone can complain but Magloire is a center and Lebron isn't. Imagine the huge uproar if Z was voted in instead of Magloire - he's not even the best player on his team!

I wouldn't worry too much about Lebron missing this years all star team however, because like someone else said he's probably going to make the next 12 in a row.

Ultimately though, the fans lose out on a potentially entertaining performance by Lebron because with his great passing and dunking skills, he probably would put up a couple of highlight plays as a member of the East All Star team.

by **fgrep15** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:29 pm

No I don't feel he should, the players selected over him: Kidd, Baron, Redd and Artest deserved it more since they were on winning teams and have been a big part of it.

Like Eddie Jones said:

"You're not supposed to be an All-Star if you're on a team that's not .500," I remember Sam Cassell playing here for the Nets, and he had great numbers, but he never made [the All-Star game]. This year, he's on a winning team, and he made it. It's all about winning."

And like I said

If you look you'll see that the players picked as reserves were all on winning teams except Ray Allen and Pierce, and Pierce and Allen were basically on the next teams closest to be winning.

Note: New York is ahead of Boston, but they didn't have a forward to beat Pierce, Marbury would be picked as a guard.

by **Matthew** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:51 pm

Winning shouldnt be the only thing taken into account when selecting all stars. It wasnt when Zydrunas Illguskas was selected last season... Lebron is a top 15 player in the league imo, so he should be on the team

by **The Game** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 8:22 pm

lebron should definitely be on the team!! melo deserves to be on the game too! these two are tearing up the league in their rookie year...

by **Filip** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 8:29 pm

I wrote:*I think it's great the non of the rookies made the all-star game. I hate the fact that they are enable to. What's the points of having a rookie game if the best rookies instead are playing in the allstar game?! Let's keep the Rookie game and All-star game apart huh.

by **Gripni** on Fri Feb 06, 2004 10:30 pm

Lebron and Carmelo just have too many people ahead of them. The guards on the East all-star team are Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Allen Iverson and Michael Redd. The West forwards are Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitski, Andrei Kirilinko, and Peja Stojakavic. Bron and Melo aren't ahead of them -- yet. Plus, Lebron hasn't had much team success -- although they are 7-3 in their last ten games.

by **Jackal** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:09 am

Yes, No..wait..I say yes...no wait...No he shouldnt...I dunno

by **Wall St. Peon** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:56 am

Cleveland's only 2.5 games back from the 8th seed...while the Cavs record sucks, it still might be good enough - in the end - to get the 7th or 8th seed in the weak-ass East. LeBron James is one of the best players in the league, top 15 in many categories and top 10 in a few others. He has better stats than Michael Redd, not to mention that he is far more versatile...

The coaches should have picked him. Redd deserves it, but LeBron deserves it more.

by **BIG GREEN** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:21 am

Carter shouldnt be on the team. Baron or kidd should have been starting and bron in their place on the bench. Also, he's a better player than redd in everyway as shane said...and these my friends...are where the all-star game fucked up. I know hes gonna be there next year and the rest of his career but still...that pisses me off.

by **fgrep15** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:41 am

All I can say is that I think the coaches were trying to pick players on winning teams, last year with Ilgauskas is because the East has no centers. Anyways I think Redd got in there because the Bucks were predicted to be the last place team by a lot of people and no one expected anything from them and they're 4th.

You said Carter shouldn't be in there, and Baron and Kidd should be starting, but thats not the coaches fault WE the fans voted the starters in there, so if you didn't vote for Lebron, Baron and Kidd, then its your fault they aren't starters. Lebron was also listed as a guard not a forward when we were voting, so he couldn't have beat Carter.

by **air gordon** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 6:28 am

redd deserves it just as much, if not more then the next guy. his selection was a no brainer. he's the mvp of a team that's surprised everyone and is playoff bound.

pierce, on the other hand, is having an off year and his team sucks a big one. you can put up an good argument saying mr james should have been selected in stead of 'the truth.

by **fgrep15** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 7:04 am

Yea I think the only player James could/should have beat would have been Pierce. The Celtics aren't winning, Pierce isn't doing/shooting too well, and Pierce was picked as a forward and he was being voted as a guard, so Lebron could have take his place.

Anyways Lebron is a rookie, so its not like he doesn't have many more years too make it, he's also 19 which even gives him more years.

by **Bill Russell** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:00 pm

Yes, he was snubbed... But those guys deserved it... Perhaps Magloire could do a Vince and let St. James play... Please Jamaal... Do this for us...

by **bballer22** on Sat Feb 07, 2004 11:13 pm

i dont belive anyone is their 1st or second year should be names an ALL-STAR at all, I mean what have they done to proove themselfs? Half a season? Its a bit diff when u get chosen to be a starter coz as we all know ist a popularity contest rather then skill for most voters, but there is no way Yao or LBJ or Camalo should have been an all star. I dont know y Ray allen is an all star? he barly played?!!!

u have to be in the L for a while and proove ur selfs 1st!

by **fgrep15** on Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:21 am

E W W W W W W W W

Cavaliers rookie LeBron James, obviously upset, has said he won't accept an All-Star invitation as an injury replacement, but sources believe NBA commissioner David Stern still might extend such an invitation for James if the opportunity arises because James would be good for TV ratings.

James reversed his earlier position Friday and said he would, after all, be willing to participate in the All-Star Game next weekend as an injury replacement. When the complete rosters were announced Tuesday, James had said that if he wasn't selected in the first pass, he wasn't interested in making the East squad as a substitute.

Its good he changed his mind.

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." …

by **Amphatoast** on Sun Feb 08, 2004 6:52 am

Too many stars ahead of LeBron and Carmelo at there positions is why they weren't all stars. If we had to make a list of people who should be all stars, we might end up with 50 players which is way too much. Nobody really got snubbed, if Lebron was 7'0" then we might can make a case..

by **Bill Russell** on Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:41 am

What happens, Leo Kap, is that some players already prove themselves after two months in the league... I'm talking about Jordan, Duncan, Hill, etc... And yeah, St. James.

by **Nel** on Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:14 pm

LeBron should have been picked an all-star. IMO the all-star game is all about showtime and it would have been nice to see him play along side VC, T-mac etc. I also wonder why ray allen was selected over carmelo and nowitzki over randolph... :shock:

by **fgrep15** on Mon Feb 09, 2004 3:37 am

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%.

We also have to realize that the rules had already been bent for the All-Star selections, which is why Lebron 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.

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.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/7901033.htm

by **Micchy_boy** on Thu Feb 12, 2004 10:47 am

if the so called LEBRON JAMES deserve to be in the team, it should be thru voting. but still many dont vote for him coz they dont deserve the spot .many believe he is a great player but if he is a great players why not vote for him. in voting he lost to t-mac and AI (both a proven superstar). as a reserve he even make the team. Reason? there were many superstar who have proven themselves as an all-star. pierce is an all-star. redd the mvp of his team as well as peja and kirilenko.