Open Court: Best of the NBA

Colts and Bears fans, feel free to thank me for your good fortune.

After picking the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots in last week’s column, I’m convinced I almost single-handedly altered the destiny of last week’s NFL Conference Championship round.

Since I’m embarrassingly bad at NFL prognostication, I’m moving on to a professional league I actually understand: the NBA.

On Thursday, the starters for this season’s All-Star game were announced, with Cleveland’s LeBron James leading all vote-getters with his name appearing on over 2.5 million ballots.

I’ve voted in 12 consecutive All-Star polls, and each year, a handful of nominations make me unspeakably happy, while others make me unreasonably depressed.

Clearly, I need professional help.

Joining James on the Eastern Conference starting line-up will be Gilbert Arenas, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Shaquille O’Neal.

Wade was as obvious as King James. The 2006 Finals MVP has averaged 28 points, five rebounds and eight assists this season while keeping the floundering Miami Heat in playoff contention.

Bosh is a mild surprise, but it’s impossible to argue with the wiry southpaw’s production. At 22 points and 11 rebounds per contest, Bosh’s play has kept the Toronto Raptors near the top of the (putrid) Atlantic Division with little help from his teammates.

O’Neal has no business playing in the All-Star game, but for most fans, he was probably the only name they recognized. Hobbled by a nagging knee injury, Shaq has suited up for only five games this season. Dwight Howard should be the starter here.

Arenas’ selection to the squad made me positively giddy. After being unfairly snubbed from last year’s squad, a late voting surge propelled Arenas ahead of Vince Carter for the final starting spot.

Behind his 30 points and six assists per game, the Washington Wizards have charged to the top of the Eastern Conference. Arenas is virtually guaranteed a top-3 finish in this season’s MVP voting.

On a personal note, Arenas might be my favorite player in today’s NBA. Not only is he a Wildcat alum and immensely entertaining to watch, he is the funniest athlete in professional sports.

Take a look at this quote from his NBA.com blog regarding how he felt when Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski left him off the U.S. national team:

“If I had the chance to go back to college, I’d give up one NBA season to play against Duke. One college game; that’s five fouls, right? Forty-minute game at Duke, they got soft rims. I’d probably score 84 or 85. I wouldn’t pass the ball. I wouldn’t even think about passing it. It would be like a NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game—you just shoot with one person.”

On top of that, he is known to shout “Hibachi!” when he enters a shooting groove. On more than one occasion, he has taken a shower during halftime while still wearing his uniform in order to rebound from a poor first half.

My favorite Arenas quirk is how he converted the oxygen in his home to Denver altitude in order to strengthen his lungs for the rigorous 82-game season.

If any athlete needs a documentary film crew following him around at all times, it’s Arenas.

In the Western Conference, Yao Ming, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant were named to the starting line-up.

Since entering the league in 2002, Yao is perennially one of the top vote-getters, since every NBA fan in China fills out multiple ballots in his favor. He won’t be able to play in this year’s game due to a leg injury.

It’s tough to argue against Garnett and Duncan in the starting forward spots, but Dirk Nowitzki has been better than both of them this season. To solve the dilemma, Duncan should move to center, since that’s exactly what he is.

Bryant has finally discovered the concept of team basketball, leading his Los Angeles Lakers to a terrific 27-15 overall record. He earned his spot.

But McGrady—while worthy of a reserve spot—definitely shouldn’t be starting ahead of Phoenix’s Steve Nash.

The defending two-time MVP winner is having a career year, leading his Suns on two 15-game winning streaks this season. He’s playing the point guard position at a higher level than anyone since Jason Kidd in 2001-02.

The Suns and Mavericks represent everything great in today’s NBA, and for neither team to be represented in the fan voting displays an alarming disconnection between the All-Star voters and what is objectively happening on the basketball floor.

The three best players this season have clearly been Nash, Nowitzki and Arenas. Only one of them is starting the All-Star game, and Arenas barely made it.

Put me in charge of the All-Star selection process, and these problems will no longer exist.

I’m definitely better at judging NBA talent than I am at picking NFL games.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9736