Mihm's the word
Not that we aim to find any flaws in the NBA All-Star ballot, which officially was released today.
We're not even sure which players are on what teams any more, so thanks for giving us all that time to sort things out.
But really, isn't two weeks of a regular season enough to tell which of the 120 players on the ballot deserve to make it to the Feb. 18, 2007 mid-winter hand-gun convention in Vegas this year?
Deserve is a strong word. Just being on the ballot has to be an achievement unto itself.
Take Lakers center Chris Mihm.
He's one of 12 postmen listed for the Western Conference. He not only has missed the first two weeks, but the other day, they've said he's going to miss the rest of the regular season with more ankle surgery. He's doing more fishing these days than squats and leg lifts.
Big deal? Vote him in. Apparently, it was either him or Nick Vanos for the last spot on the ballot.
Mihm, incidentally, is one of only three Lakers to make the ballot (along with Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom). No Smush Parker? No Aaron McKie?
The Clippers have all five on the ballot, including one sub (Corey Maggette). What does that say about the state of hoops in L.A.?
Again, we're not being nitpicky, but ... Sacramento's Kevin Martin (15th in the league with a 23.8 points per game scoring average) didn't make the ballot. It kinda makes you think this was all printed up before the season even started, and the ballot officials just looked at 'em and said, "Ben Wallace is on Chicago, not Detroit, right? OK, we're good to go!"
For the record, those ballots were selected by a "panel of media experts who regularly cover the NBA," according to the league press release. This year’s panel included Steve Aschburner (Minneapolis Star Tribune/ President, Professional Basketball Writers’ Association), Ric Bucher (ESPN the Magazine), Ernie Johnson (Turner Sports) and Sam Smith (Chicago Tribune). Apparently, The Amazing Kreskin was left out of the process again.
There are many confusing ways to vote this year, also, thanks to T-Mobile being the ballot's main sponsor.
Aside from punching the tabs in the paper ballot around the arenas (and 13 teams will carry them in English and Spanish), NBA.com has the ballot in 20 different languages. It's also on AOL.com/nba. And at T-Mobile stores. And at the Las Vegas Convention Center. And up and down Freemont Street in Vegas.
And you can vote via mobile phones.
For the players, we can only hope there'll be ballots located next to the suggestion box at the Shady Lady Ranch just outside Vegas (voted best small brothel for four consecutive years...)
Voting ends Jan. 15 for paper ballots, Jan. 21 for online. And Nov. 14 as far as we're concerned. Just watch how the voting goes in Florida.
And please, vote for Mihm. At least once a day on line. Them's the rules.
Here's the complete ballot:
NBA ALL-STAR 2007 EASTERN CONFERENCE BALLOT
EAST GUARDS (24)
Gilbert Arenas, Washington
Chauncey Billups, Detroit
Vince Carter, New Jersey
Speedy Claxton, Atlanta
Jamal Crawford, New York
Marquis Daniels, Indiana
Raymond Felton, Charlotte
T.J. Ford, Toronto
Steve Francis, New York
Ben Gordon, Chicago
Richard Hamilton, Detroit
Kirk Hinrich, Chicago
Larry Hughes, Cleveland
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
Stephen Jackson, Indiana
Joe Johnson, Atlanta
Jason Kidd, New Jersey
Stephon Marbury, New York
Jameer Nelson, Orlando
Morris Peterson, Toronto
Michael Redd, Milwaukee
Dwyane Wade, Miami
Delonte West, Boston
Jason Williams, Miami
EAST FORWARDS (24)
Chris Bosh, Toronto
Caron Butler, Washington
Luol Deng, Chicago
Channing Frye, New York
Drew Gooden, Cleveland
Al Harrington, Indiana
Udonis Haslem, Miami
Grant Hill, Orlando
Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia
LeBron James, Cleveland
Antawn Jamison, Washington
Richard Jefferson, New Jersey
Andres Nocioni, Chicago
Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana
Emeka Okafor, Charlotte
Paul Pierce, Boston
Tayshaun Prince, Detroit
Wally Szczerbiak, Boston
Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando
Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee
Gerald Wallace, Charlotte
Rasheed Wallace, Detroit
Antoine Walker, Miami
Chris Webber, Philadelphia
EAST CENTERS (12)
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee
Primoz Brezec, Charlotte
Eddy Curry, New York
Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia
Dwight Howard, Orlando
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland
Nenad Krstic, New Jersey
Nazr Mohammed, Detroit
Alonzo Mourning, Miami
Shaquille O’Neal, Miami
Zaza Pachulia, Atlanta
Ben Wallace, Chicago
NBA ALL-STAR 2007 WESTERN CONFERENCE BALLOT
WEST GUARDS (24)
Ray Allen, Seattle
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix
Raja Bell, Phoenix
Mike Bibby, Sacramento
Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
Sam Cassell, LA Clippers
Baron Davis, Golden State
Ricky Davis, Minnesota
Juan Dixon, Portland
Michael Finley, San Antonio
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
Mike James, Minnesota
Eddie Jones, Memphis
Tracy McGrady, Houston
Andre Miller, Denver
Cuttino Mobley, LA Clippers
Steve Nash, Phoenix
Tony Parker, San Antonio
Chris Paul, NO/OKC
Jason Richardson, Golden State
Luke Ridnour, Seattle
Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas
Jason Terry, Dallas
Deron Williams, Utah
WEST FORWARDS (24)
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Sacramento
Carmelo Anthony, Denver
Ron Artest, Sacramento
Shane Battier, Houston
Carlos Boozer, Utah
Bruce Bowen, San Antonio
Elton Brand, LA Clippers
Boris Diaw, Phoenix
Tim Duncan, San Antonio
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
Pau Gasol, Memphis
Josh Howard, Dallas
Andrei Kirilenko, Utah
Rashard Lewis, Seattle
Corey Maggette, LA Clippers
Shawn Marion, Phoenix
Kenyon Martin, Denver
Mike Miller, Memphis
Troy Murphy, Golden State
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
Lamar Odom, LA Lakers
Zach Randolph, Portland
Peja Stojakovic, NO/OKC
David West, NO/OKC
WEST CENTERS (12)
Mark Blount, Minnesota
Marcus Camby, Denver
Tyson Chandler, NO/OKC
Erick Dampier, Dallas
Francisco Elson, San Antonio
Chris Kaman, LA Clippers
Jamaal Magloire, Portland
Chris Mihm, LA Lakers
Brad Miller, Sacramento
Mehmet Okur, Utah
Amaré Stoudemire, Phoenix
Yao Ming, Houston