The first results in 2010-11 NBA All-Star voting have been released. Per usual, immediate problems spring to attention. Most predictably, Yao Ming leads all contenders for the starting center spot in the West, and by the second largest margin among all leaders. The Houston Rockets center has played all of five games this season, and none since Nov. 10. His career may actually be over, in a remarkably sad turn.
NBA All-Star Ballots Need One Simple Reform: Lose The Positions
No one will catch Yao -- he has more than twice as many votes as his closest contender. That closest contender? Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who has played two games this season.
Behind Bynum, in third place? Brendan Haywood, who was replaced by Tyson Chandler as the Mavericks' starter back during the preseason and plays less than 20 minutes a game.
None of the other candidates are worth serious consideration either. But there’s an easy fix. Let’s take positions off the ballot.
Frankly, the All-Star teams matter only for two things: entertainment value and contract negotiations. Yao won't play in the All-Star Game, and there's no way Bynum will deserve it more than the third-place forward, currently Carmelo Anthony. All-Star coaches flout positionality and hardly manage games with victory on their mind. There's simply no reason to give centers legit spots on the teams. It does nothing for fans.
As it is, the coaches who vote to fill the reserve slots on the Western All-Star team will have to fudge their ballots and make Tim Duncan a center to get him on the ballot. Assuming Amar'e Stoudemire does not catch Kevin Garnett for the No. 2 forward in the East, coaches will have to do the same there. I'm glad coaches flout positional decrees to get the most deserving players on the reserve rosters. Why shouldn't fans be able to do the same?
If fans were allowed to vote for five players for each conference regardless of position, Yao still might make it. But instead of replacing him in the starting five with Bynum, Marc Gasol or Emeka Okafor, coaches and the league could slide Carmelo in there with voted starters Kevin Durant and Pau Gasol. No one would miss a beat!
This isn’t a terribly original idea, and there are other good reform ideas circulating. But looking at the results and options in the center categories make the current system almost too much to bear. Bring the positional revolution to fan voting!
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