Bylaws have been checked. Rules have been scrutinized.
And, yes, it has been determined the West must start a center in February's All-Star Game in Dallas.
So, gentlemen, lace up your high tops. The race to be the starting center for the West is as wide open as the Yukon Territory.
Houston's Yao Ming, who has been voted by fans the starter the past seven years (he did miss the 2007 game due to injury), won't play before the All-Star Break due to a fractured foot. It will be interesting to see if he's even on the All-Star ballot. If so, he'll probably win the voting without stepping on the court.
Shaquille O'Neal, an All-Star last season with Phoenix, has moved to the East with Cleveland. So he's out of the mix.
Who's left?Not a lot.
The only candidate with previous All-Star experience is Utah's Mehmut Okur, named an injury replacement in 2007. Keep in mind, though, that was the year All-Star had a very loose meaning in the West considering four injury replacements were named.
One presumes Minnesota's Al Jefferson again will be on the ballot at center even though he really is a power forward who often is forced to play out of position. But it remains to be seen how Jefferson will be come back from a torn ACL that ended his season last February after he had averaged 23.1 points and 11.0 rebounds. But for now, even though the Timberwolves should still be subpar, let's make Jefferson the favorite.
There's another guy in the mix who was hurt much of last season. The Lakers' Andrew Bynum, who at least did return late in the regular season from a knee injury before stumbling around in the playoffs, might be a year away from truly being All-Star worthy. But Bynum, helped by being with the Lakers, was third in fan voting last season behind Yao and O'Neal.
Want a darkhorse candidate? Denver's Nene averaged 14.6 points and 7.8 rebounds last season, and could be even better now that he has fully recovered from testicular cancer surgery in January 2008.
"My motivation is different than last year,'' Nene said. "Last year, I was trying to overcome cancer, and I surprised myself (with his play). This year is different. ... But my goal is not to be an All-Star. My goal is to help the team go farther than last season (the Western Conference finals). But, if I deserve (to be an All-Star), I will be there.''
Nene is fully healthy after suffering a broken left arm in Denver's last playoff game. He took about six weeks off, and said now his "arm is perfect."
The native of Brazil also got his Green Card during the offseason. He's working to become a U.S. citizen, while also maintaining his Brazilian citizenship, although that is still a few years off.
Want some other West All-Star center candidates? Golden State's Andris Biedrins is a Latvian double-double machine. Portland's Greg Oden is still raw, but don't count him out yet.There's the two-headed Clippers monster of Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman, who strangely were both listed on the All-Star ballot last year at center, which meant Clippers fans weren't allowed by rules to vote for both. There's New Orleans' Emeka Okafor, who arrived from Charlotte for Tyson Chandler in a swap of big men.
By the way, don't dare call Tim Duncan a center. The committee that drew up the All-Star ballot two years ago tried to put him on at that position. The complaining was so loud from San Antonio he soon was switched back to power forward.
So there you go. Every possible West All-Star starting center candidate has been mentioned (and, yes, Erick Dampier, you were intentionally excluded even though the All-Star Game is in your home city). As for a reserve in the game who's a center, that's probably not going to happen.
The rules call for NBA coaches, who vote on reserves, to select a backup center. But coaches are allowed to vote for somebody who doesn't play the position regularly. So, with top-notch centers in the West as common as Halley's Comet sightings, they'll likely just slide a power forward over to that spot.
But somebody who's listed as a center is going to have to start the game for the West. For any big man out there who wants some day to tell his grandchildren he once started an All-Star Game, now's your chance.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
With Shaq in the East, and Ming in rehab, maybe Duncan, (Pau) Gasol, and Nowitzski will be admitted to be centers, and maybe Stoudamire, Biedrins, and (Al) Jefferson will be admitted to be forwards. Good chance Bynum will be traded, since he loves to score, but doesn`t love to play defense, and isn`t fast enough to play forward if Gasol plays center. A Gasol for Bosh trade has been rumored, which would help the east at center and put Bosh at small forward with Odom, Artest at guard with Bryant, or off the bench with Walton and Morrisson. The West should probably be fine if management can be conned into being honest for a change (Duncan`s always been a center on offenses, even when he was a small forward on defense, teamed with two other centers, Robinson and Purdue, and in recent years, has been by default the Spurs` biggest athlete). It would be nice if Orlando would sign El Zyd, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and sign Rasho Nesterovich, so Dwight Howard could move back to power forward, especially with Shaq (and possibly Bynum) in the east, and Lewis out the first few games. Would also be quite a change for the Magic to go to a power team, after living by the 3 pointer mostly last season, but Turk, one of their 3 shooters, is in Toronto now.
Why would a trade involving gasol for bosh even get mentioned in any threads la would be silly to make a deal like that, bosh is more suited for playing the power forward position, and also bynum at center is not to solid either due to his often injury prone body...
Sorry, I seem to have mistyped what the FanHouse writers rumored, it was Bynum for Bosh, not Gasol for Bosh, though Toronto might prefer it the other way around. And the Magic are at the salary cap, so they would have to dump salary, maybe Gortat and Reddick for 1st and 2nd round picks if they were going to add veteran centers to spare Howard having to guard O`Neal, though that might be doable.
Marc Gasol!
Nice article but i think it tries too hard to make its point. The simple answer to the question is Pau Gasol. He plays center for Spain in international play and while the presence of Bynum allows him to move to PF, there's no reason why he shouldn't be categorized as a center, at least for the All Star game.
If Marc Gasol stays with Memphis, he figures to be squeezed between Zack Randolph and Thabeet. In the unlikely event the Grizz ahve a winning record, in the top 8 in the west, prior to the All Star game, Randolph and Iverson would be their most likely all star candidates. Randy has never quite made it, but has had good stats. Mayo and Gay might be the next most likely, but even one all star from the Grizz would be a shock, even if Thabeet wins Rookie of the Year, would would likely be at the expense of squeezing Marc Gasol. Competition in the NBA isn`t easy, even if one of your family has been a success to little or great extent. It is almost as if one all star in a family undercuts anyone else in the family making it.
#1 Bynum is not injury prone, bones break when 220 lb players come flying into them at great speed, it's not like he hurt them jumping or landing wrong. Let's see what he's got this year, as for Gasol, there is NO WAY he should not be an all star Center for the west this year, Silver metal at the Olympics, NBA championship, Gold metal at Eurobasket 09, 19 points a game, 11 rebounds, almost 2 blocks/game, 58% shooting, played good D on Howard who he gave 30 lbs to, COME ON !!!!
The starter will be Pao Gasol. The backup will be Mark Gasol. And Dwight Howard will get 80 points.