lefty
01-29-2010, 12:13 PM
Everyone knows big men can’t sell shoes.
Besides the inaugural Reebok Shaq Attacks, when was the last time you saw a line of teenage boys outside Footlocker waiting to cop the new Tim Duncan Adidas? Not gonna happen no matter how many double-double nights the Big Fundamental puts up.
But put LeBron, Wade or Kobe’s facsimile on a pair of kicks and watch the wave of 14-year-old boys get mugged for their shoes on the playground.
The same goes for the NBA All-Star Game.
As important as hard-working centers and forwards are to their teams, they just aren’t sexy enough to run alongside guys like Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady (A.I. is starting for the East despite playing in only 20 games for the Sixers and scoring 14 points a night. T-Mac, who is earning the final year of his deal from home, nearly made the West team on fan votes. Thank God he’s not playing).
The official rosters were released Thursday, leaving many of deserving players out. Why? Because they’re not sexy enough.
Chris Kaman isn’t going to fill the lane and flush down a Chris Paul alley-oop. David Lee isn’t going to throw the ball off the backboard to himself and slam it down in traffic. And I doubt you’d see Carl Landry crossing over a defender so bad that their ankles explode out of their shoes and shoot into Will Smith’s popcorn.
These are the hardest working guys in basketball and they can’t even get an All-Star nod. They run the entire length of the floor on every play, battle with a 250-pound defender on their backs and jump into a forest of elbows and sprained ankles waiting to happen every time a shot goes up.
I’ll admit some guys finally got their props. Like Gerald Wallace, Al Horford and Zach Randolph, who I’m sure the NBA powers that be would trade in an instant for Josh Smith or Andre Iguodala, if only for a few rim rattlers.
But I have a hard time believing Iverson, Pau Gasol and even Kevin Garnett should be on the floor Valentine’s Day.
Yes, Kevin Garnett. If intensity was a stat, KG would be the league leader. But his 32 games played, 14.7 points per game and 7.3 rebounds fall short of Lee’s 20 and 12, Andrew Bogut’s 16 and 10 and Brook Lopez’s 19 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two assists a night.
How the hell is this guy not a starting All-Star! He could be the best center in the NBA! I’m looking at you Dwight Howard and your 17.5 points per game.
Oh right, it's because Lopez plays for the Nets and he isn’t what the NBA would consider "sexy".
http://spaces.covers.com/blog/J_Logan/NBA/01292010-NBA-All-Star-Game-hates-the-working-man.html?t=0
Besides the inaugural Reebok Shaq Attacks, when was the last time you saw a line of teenage boys outside Footlocker waiting to cop the new Tim Duncan Adidas? Not gonna happen no matter how many double-double nights the Big Fundamental puts up.
But put LeBron, Wade or Kobe’s facsimile on a pair of kicks and watch the wave of 14-year-old boys get mugged for their shoes on the playground.
The same goes for the NBA All-Star Game.
As important as hard-working centers and forwards are to their teams, they just aren’t sexy enough to run alongside guys like Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady (A.I. is starting for the East despite playing in only 20 games for the Sixers and scoring 14 points a night. T-Mac, who is earning the final year of his deal from home, nearly made the West team on fan votes. Thank God he’s not playing).
The official rosters were released Thursday, leaving many of deserving players out. Why? Because they’re not sexy enough.
Chris Kaman isn’t going to fill the lane and flush down a Chris Paul alley-oop. David Lee isn’t going to throw the ball off the backboard to himself and slam it down in traffic. And I doubt you’d see Carl Landry crossing over a defender so bad that their ankles explode out of their shoes and shoot into Will Smith’s popcorn.
These are the hardest working guys in basketball and they can’t even get an All-Star nod. They run the entire length of the floor on every play, battle with a 250-pound defender on their backs and jump into a forest of elbows and sprained ankles waiting to happen every time a shot goes up.
I’ll admit some guys finally got their props. Like Gerald Wallace, Al Horford and Zach Randolph, who I’m sure the NBA powers that be would trade in an instant for Josh Smith or Andre Iguodala, if only for a few rim rattlers.
But I have a hard time believing Iverson, Pau Gasol and even Kevin Garnett should be on the floor Valentine’s Day.
Yes, Kevin Garnett. If intensity was a stat, KG would be the league leader. But his 32 games played, 14.7 points per game and 7.3 rebounds fall short of Lee’s 20 and 12, Andrew Bogut’s 16 and 10 and Brook Lopez’s 19 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two assists a night.
How the hell is this guy not a starting All-Star! He could be the best center in the NBA! I’m looking at you Dwight Howard and your 17.5 points per game.
Oh right, it's because Lopez plays for the Nets and he isn’t what the NBA would consider "sexy".
http://spaces.covers.com/blog/J_Logan/NBA/01292010-NBA-All-Star-Game-hates-the-working-man.html?t=0