spursparker9
02-03-2015, 10:03 PM
Posted:
Tue Feb. 3, 2015
BY ROB MAHONEY
The announcement of the 14 reserves selected to the 2015 NBA All-Star game was met with almost mechanical outrage. The players omitted in these cases are generally irrelevant. What matters -- and what ignites such fevered, impulsive response -- is the very, unavoidable act of exclusion, channeled through the reactive heart of one fan base as easily as it would the next. It is an outrage defined by its vacancy.
And, in the case of this year's most notable omissions, it often came with a target. Whether objecting to the immediate absence of DeMarcus Cousins (who was later named as Kobe Bryant's injury replacement) or Damian Lillard, it became common to sneer at the nod given to the 38-year-old Tim Duncan. One could fill tomes with every parroting of Duncan's selection as a "lifetime achievement award."
There are compelling arguments as to why Cousins and Lillard are worthier selections than Duncan. They may be right. But they shouldn't come at the expense of acknowledging just how brilliant Duncan has been this season, and just how utterly reasonable it is for him to make the All-Star team. Duncan is -- not was -- a terrific basketball player. To claim otherwise conveniently glosses over just how effective and important Duncan has been by his own merits this season.
Read the rest on http://www.si.com/nba/2015/02/03/defending-tim-duncan-nba-all-star-game-spurs
Tue Feb. 3, 2015
BY ROB MAHONEY
The announcement of the 14 reserves selected to the 2015 NBA All-Star game was met with almost mechanical outrage. The players omitted in these cases are generally irrelevant. What matters -- and what ignites such fevered, impulsive response -- is the very, unavoidable act of exclusion, channeled through the reactive heart of one fan base as easily as it would the next. It is an outrage defined by its vacancy.
And, in the case of this year's most notable omissions, it often came with a target. Whether objecting to the immediate absence of DeMarcus Cousins (who was later named as Kobe Bryant's injury replacement) or Damian Lillard, it became common to sneer at the nod given to the 38-year-old Tim Duncan. One could fill tomes with every parroting of Duncan's selection as a "lifetime achievement award."
There are compelling arguments as to why Cousins and Lillard are worthier selections than Duncan. They may be right. But they shouldn't come at the expense of acknowledging just how brilliant Duncan has been this season, and just how utterly reasonable it is for him to make the All-Star team. Duncan is -- not was -- a terrific basketball player. To claim otherwise conveniently glosses over just how effective and important Duncan has been by his own merits this season.
Read the rest on http://www.si.com/nba/2015/02/03/defending-tim-duncan-nba-all-star-game-spurs