The All-Star reserves have been announced and the rosters look like this (names in bold represent players that didn’t jive with my last set of picks):
EAST
Starters: Gilbert Arenas, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Shaquille O’Neal
Reserves: Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Jermaine O’Neal, Dwight Howard, Caron Butler
WEST
Starters: Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Yao Ming
Reserves: Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Allen Iverson, Tony Parker
SNUBS
The two biggest names to be left off these respective lists are Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd. Anthony’s snub was a direct result of his 15-game suspension he received for his role with the mini-brawl with the Knicks. Anthony is the league’s leading scorer, which makes it even more odd that he won’t be making an All-Star appearance.
Prior to his knee injury, Michael Redd was playing arguably the best basketball of any guard in the East and it’s surprising that he didn’t make the roster. Especially considering the fact that Shaquille O’Neal was voted in as a starter, even though he only appeared in seven games and has posted just 12.6 points and 6.7 rebounds this season. Compare that to Redd’s 27.7 points and 3.8 rebounds and it’s clear that the Buck deserves an All-Star berth. Once O’Neal was given the starting nod, Redd would have had to beat out Hamilton, Carter or Butler, and it’s tough to do that when you’re injured.
Does the All-Star game really matter? Of course not, not in the short-term, anyway. But when these players are at the end of their respective careers, every All-Star game appearance on their resume helps for a potential run at the Hall of Fame. Redd was voted to the All-Star game once before, in 2004.
