All-Star Selection Process - What's Right and Wrong?

NBA All-Star Weekend is one of the more entertaining mid-season celebrations in professional sports. There is the Rookie-Sophomore game, various skills challenges, the battle for long-range accuracy in the 3-pt Shootout and the ultimate test of high-flying creativity better known as the Slam Dunk Contest presented by Sprite. But the pièce de résistance is unquestionably the NBA All-Star Game where the best of the best from each conference duke it out for bragging rights. But, are they really the best of the best? Who decides who is best? Are they qualified? These are some of the nagging questions of those opposed to the current selection process of the NBA All-Star Game.

Before I detail exactly what my stance is, let me briefly explain how things are currently done. The starters are chosen through a fan-vote on nba.com - two guards, two forwards and one center are voted in for each conference.

All-Star reserves are chosen by the coaches. Their criteria can range from 'most talented' to 'best statistics' to 'best record' and anywhere in between.

But is this how the process should be done? Well, I'm alright with some aspects while others do indeed bother me. What I do like is the fan vote, despite many NBA purists who feel the opposite. They want the All-Star Game to be about who deserves to be there - the 'best of the best', whatever that means. Me? I like the fan vote for the simple reason that, when you look at the essence of the NBA All-Star Game (and All-Star Weekend in general), it should be about the fans; It should be about pure entertainment and not to be taken all too seriously. If the fans want to see Allen Iverson start at point guard for the Eastern Conference despite The Answer having one of the worst seasons in his acclaimed career, then by all means, vote him in. This doesn't bother me like it does many others.

So that covers my opinion on the starters but what about the reserves? Well, this is where everything gets a bit foggy. It is, literally, impossible to make a majority happy with the reserve selections because there is no set criteria in which they are chosen. At least with the starters, we know why they are selected as they are - entertainment value. Aside from the few die-hard NBA fans who will closely look at each candidate statistically or look at how their ball-club is seeded, they will, instead, say the following "Man, his dunks are ridiculous" or "He has the most killer crossover" - and this is fine, in my honest opinion.

But the reserves? Not so simple - I know of a few coaches who subscribe to the theory that, if a player isn't leading his team to a .500 or above record, he does not earn the right to go to the All-Star Game. Is this legitimate? Well, it's circumstantial. Kevin Durant of the Okalahoma City Thunder is putting up a healthy 24.8pts, 6.7rebs and 2.7asts while maintaining a PER of nearly 20, an eFG% of 50.4 and a TS% of 57%. However, his Thunder are an unimpressive11-36. So should the blame for this record lie on the shoulders of Durant, or would it be a bit more wise to look at the players around him? I'll go with the latter. The 2nd-best player on Okalahoma City's roster is most likely Russell Westbrook (or Jeff Green depending on who you ask). Russell wouldn't even start on most teams in the association. Why punish Kevin Durant for an awful team? Isn't it bad enough that, despite his All-Star-caliber play, he has to watch his team falter on a nightly basis? It is to me. God knows how bad the Thunder would be without Durant.

Another theory I've heard being thrown around is that players who put up the best base-statistics should go, record be damned. This would certainly get Durant in the game, which I like, but unfortunately, it would also put a player like Caron Butler (SF, Washington Wizards) in the conversation. Listen, as a Wizards fan through and through, I'd love nothing more than to see some D.C representation in Phoenix, but I'm also a realist. Caron has mailed it in this season. His 'base numbers' look pretty good with the naked eye, but if you dig a bit deeper, you can see why his team is tied for the league's worst at 10-37. He (Butler) is posting a PER of 18.1, down big from last season. He's putting up an eFG% of just 47.8% and a TS% of 54.4%. In addition to his unspectacular offense, he's also taken his defense from slightly-above-average in 07-08 to "Is he trying to lose this game for us"-defense currently.

To sum it up, I'd like coaches to use a combination of ways to guage players- I'd like them to look at each situation independently and not believe that one theory fits all. Or they can make a total travashamockery of the game and vote Stephon Marbury. Say it with me - STEPH 10'!