So a decent all-star weekend is overshadowed by the award ceremony following the game. After an innovative approach by adding the horse competition which was entertaining (and I hope its here to stay), the best slam dunk contest in years (in which they should have split the award) and a fun if not a blow out game the fans are forced to watch as two undeserving players are awarded the All-Star MVP. Give me a break, as an NBA fan, it was insulting to see these two hoist the trophies when it was painfully obvious who the MVP of the West was: CP3 Chris Paul. I felt like the MVP honors were pre-determined due to the fact that both Kobe and Shaq are both huge stars. Both had great games stat wise, but it was a hollow award. It was given to them for the media frenzy photo-op and overshadowed what was an entertaining weekend.
Unconvinced, or don’t agree? Well lets look at the stats and decide:
Kobe Bryant: 27 points, 4 steals, 4 rebounds, and 4 ast.
Shaq: 17 points. 5 boards, and 3 ast.
Both had great games, filling up the stat sheet. But lets continue and compare:
CP3 : 14 points, 7 boards, 14 ast, 3 stl, and he ran the offense in which he was familiar with while shooting 50%.
Kobe and Shaq got to play in a system they were familiar with under Phil Jackson. Chris Paul had no such luxury and still produced. Look at those stats and tell me why Shaq should even be in the discussion. This is total media slant. The media loves to portray rivalries and that’s why they were chosen. Pathetic.
However all was completely lost with this all-satr weekend as the Rook/Soph game was fun, Rose was a blast to watch and look forward to watching him in the future. The slam dunk contest was redunkulous and although I didn’t agree with the voting, its hard to argue with the fans vote. Dwight Howard’s 12 ft dunk was not appreciated enough. These two provided a more compelling rivalry of superman v lex luthor than the last superman movie (it sucked). The drama was there, the fun was there, and the comradely was there. Horse/Geico or whatever was decent too. Although I think in the future it should played inside and made use of a full court. A Larry Johnson, Glen Rice, Shaq, and Ben Wallace game would have been delightful. If only, a man can cream, a man can dream….
-Leave comments on who you would have liked to see in the game of horse, slam dunk contest, and who you thought should have won the all-star mvp.
This leads me into another topic, the whole media waging war on Kobe vs. LBJ. Who is the bigger superstar? Who is the better player? Who is the better franchise player? The answer is obvious: The King; LeBron. He is better at every avenue except 3's. My guess is that a poll of every coach and GM in the league with a fantasy draft and they have first pick who would they take you would get the same 30 answers...LeBron. He has a higher scoring avg, better percentage, more ast, more rebounds, more blocks, and is 6 years younger. Plus he stays out of trouble unlike one Kobe Bryant.
Seriously this whole rivalry thing between these two is ridiculous. The NBA should be marketing LBJ way more if for nothing else, he isn’t a scumbag. I believe the term is: A picture is worth a thousand words. Need I say more?
-Chandler
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