NEW YORK — A couple of weeks ago, we posed the rhetorical question: Where will Adam Silver be hated first?
And now we have our answer: In the Eastern European country of Slovenia, and in the American city of Phoenix.
Silver on Friday chose New Orleans Pelicans forward/center Anthony Davis to replace injured West All-Star Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. Davis, who will make his first All-Star Game appearance, is averaging 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and an NBA-leading 3.3 blocks in 40 games for the Pelicans.
Davis got the nod over Suns guard Goran Dragic, who has led the Suns to a 29-20 record entering Friday night’s games — good enough for seventh place in the deep Western Conference. Dragic, who was named Player of the Week on Monday, is averaging 20.1 points and is shooting above 50 percent from the field — a rarity for a guard.
As gaudy as Davis’ numbers have been, the Pelicans are six games under .500 and have virtually no chance of qualifying for the postseason.
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks, who earned the right to coach the West squad by virtue of the Thunder clinching the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6, will determine who replaces Bryant in the starting lineup.
So Stern’s legacy of bias against Phoenix continues through Adam Silver! It was a very simple choice, Dragic has carried the Suns to a winning record and a playoff berth. Suns were picked by the so-called experts to be in contention for the top lottery pick while the Pelicans and even the Kings were picked to compete for the playoff spot now occupied by Dragic’s Suns.
Sure, Davis plays for the host city but Stern expanded the NBA internationally. Why should the European countries support the NBA over the Euroleague with B.S. like this? Dragic should have been chosen over Damien Lillard and Davis over Nowitzki. Adam Silver should have selected Dragic over Davis.
Why even bother to support the NBA? First Stern trys his best to keep Connie Hawkins off the Suns roster back in ’69. Then ref Ritchie Powers decides the Celtics didn’t have to play by the rules in the ’76 Finals. Stern wrongly suspends Amare and Diaw in ’07 against the Spurs while allowing Tim Duncan to do the same exact thing without penalty.
I’ve had enough, Silver can go f…..k himself!
Maybe CP3 will decide not to play Sunday, and rest through the AS break, as Clippers are doing fine without him? In that case, I’m sure Silver would pick Dragic to replace him.
Picking for AS Game should NOT be heavily based on team record (like MVP and 1st team NBA) but more on how much a player means to a team (that could disqualify Irving with Cavs). Melo deserves to be in AS Game, despite Knicks record.
Had Siver chosen Dragic he would have been heavily criticized for not picking Davis.
In the month of January Dragic was one of four players to average at least 22 points, six assists and four rebounds per game. Last night he lit up All-Star Stephen Curry for a career high 34 points on 10-13 shooting and had ten assists in leading the Suns to their 2nd victory over the Warriors this season. The Suns have beaten the Blazers twice as well as the Pacers. they have beaten the hot Rockets also.
The whole point of being an All-Star is you make your teammates better and you LEAD your team to victories. Sure, Carmelo can score but he is a loser. After Denver sent him off to the Knicks, George Karl took the Nuggets to a franchise record 57 wins behind TEAM play and European Danilari Gallinari.
Dragic is 27 and Davis 20. Davis couldn’t lift his more talented teammates to victory while Dragic has carried role players and other teams discards to an impressive WINNING record in the highly competitive West.
If Adam Silver is too weak to make the correct decisions then he should step down from his position.