Percy Allen / NBA reporter
Cross stars: The All-Star game anoints a chosen few

By Percy Allen
Seattle Times NBA reporter

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You just can't please everybody. That's how selective the All-Star teams are. Somebody is going to have hurt feelings.

So cry on, Carmelo Anthony. Too bad, LeBron James.

It would have been nice to see the best young talent in the league on the game's most star-studded court, but the coaches have deemed otherwise.

I don't have a big problem with the vote, but the process has got to go. It needs reworking. Take the balloting process out of the dark and disclose the results for everyone to see.

In short, I want to see who voted for whom.

Which coach had the audacity to leave the box empty next to LeBron's name? Who was the guy that decided to vote for Andrei Kirilenko and cast Carmelo aside?

"You don't want to open that can of worms," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, who declined to reveal his All-Star ballot. "There could be, how shall we say, repercussions."

Perhaps a more accurate word is retribution.

To hear those who felt they got snubbed, you get the sense that they'd try to score 40 every time they played one of the coaches who didn't feel they were All-Star worthy.

Zach Randolph believes he deserved a bid.
 
Ditto for Antoine Walker, Carlos Boozer, Michael Finley, Chauncey Billups and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

The same goes for Andre Miller, Steve Nash, Stephon Marbury, Lamar Odom and Elton Brand.

And an argument could also be made for Erick Dampier, Sonics forward Rashard Lewis, Richard Hamilton, Latrell Sprewell and Gary Payton.

"I'm no different than anybody else," Lewis said. "As many guys as they got on the team, there's about twice as many who think they should make it. ... I'm not mad at nobody but myself."

Still others have charged conspiracy, and they've pointed their theories in the direction of Seattle's Ray Allen and Utah's Andrei Kirilenko.

"He's a great player, but I don't think he played enough to be on the team," Golden State guard Nick Van Exel said of Allen. "Who do you put in his place? I don't know."

Denver's Andre Miller offers a suggestion ... Andre Miller.

"I thought my chances were pretty good," he told the Rocky Mountain News. "We've got a better record than Utah and Seattle. To put guys who have been injured half the year on it, that's the politics of it. I'm surprised (Allen made it). I bet he's just as surprised."

Allen pleaded guilty to all of the charges thrown at him.

Yeah, he missed 25 games because of an ankle surgery.

Yes, his Sonics have a losing record.

Perhaps his reputation and good standing with the coaches as well as his spot on the U.S. Olympic team helped his candidacy.

And no, he's not going to decline his fourth All-Star invitation.

McMillan isn't allowed to vote for his players, but said he would have voted for Allen because of the difference he's made since joining the Sonics.

"You can't tell me Ray Allen is not an All-Star caliber player," he said. "Night in and night out, he leads this team."

Kirilenko is the only other All-Star playing for a losing team in the West.

The East squad has three starters (Vince Carter, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady) from losing teams and one reserve in Paul Pierce.

No one ever said players on teams with a losing record need not apply for All-Star consideration.

In fact, the voting criteria is extremely vague, and often the fan balloting becomes a popularity contest.

Such was the case in the West this year.

If the online voting went the way it should have, then Steve Francis and Yao Ming would not have been chosen as starters.

Statistically, Francis is having his worst season and likely would not have made the squad as a reserve, which would have cleared a spot for Miller or Nash.

Shaquille O'Neal has missed 15 games, but his numbers suggest he is having a better season than Yao.

Had Yao not been selected as a starter, many coaches would probably have chosen Sacramento's Brad Miller as the reserve center and opted for Brand, Dampier, Walker or Anthony at forward.

But since the fans voted with their hearts, that left the West coaches with the difficult decision of choosing the seven reserves.

Still, it would have been interesting to view the polling. Next time, they should do a show of hands.

That's one of the problems with this league. There's too much secrecy at times.

"They should make it public," Lewis said. "I'd love to see who voted for me and who didn't."

When asked if he'd try to score 40 on the coaches that dissed him, Lewis said: "Forty? Nah. Maybe 30, though."

For the record, if I had a vote, my West starters would have been Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan at forward, Kobe Bryant and Sam Cassell at guard and O'Neal at center. The reserves: Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic, Kirilenko, Carmelo, Randolph, Nash and Miller.

The East starters would have mirrored the fan voting of Carter, Iverson, McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal and Ben Wallace. The reserves: Ron Artest, Pierce, LeBron, Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Michael Redd and Kenyon Martin.

Anyone got any problems with my vote, don't call or e-mail. Just meet me on the court.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com

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