Billups All-Star Snub? - by: G-Holtz-Speed

The King of Park Hill recently was left off of the NBA All-Star team. Chauncey Billups seemed like a front-runner for one of the reserve spots for the Western Conference team that will play the East in Dallas on February 14^th. There is still a very good chance that Chauncey will replace Hornets guard Chris Paul, who is scheduled to have knee surgery that will sideline him one or two months.

Why was Billups left off the team in the first place? Chauncey arguably had the best month of his career in January, averaging 24.2 points, 6.9 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in his 12 games played. On the other hand, Billups averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds before the New Year hit. While those statistics are good, they probably would not have been enough for him to make the All-Star game.

Although stats are not the only factor that coaches (who vote in the All-Star reserves) consider when deciding who will make the team, I believe it does weigh more heavily than intangibles like leadership and team chemistry. Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony is also one of the leading candidates for the MVP award at this point in the season, which may have negatively affected different viewpoints of Chauncey’s worth to the team.

Unless the coaches factored in “League’s Shiniest Head” into the equation, I can understand why Chauncey was left off the All-Star team. He just wasn’t playing like an All-Star until recently. He also missed eight games due to injury, which may have factored in, but did not seem to affect Chris Paul or the Laker’s Pau Gasol. It would also be difficult to justify any of the other guards in the West being left off the team, because leaving Paul, Brandon Roy, or Deron Williams off would be considerable snubbage as well. That’s right—I said snubbage.

Truthfully, Billups will probably end up playing in Dallas on Valentine’s Day. As Nuggets fans, we always want our players to be justly honored, but we must also look at it from the coach’s perspectives. After all, many teams do not even get to send someone to the All-Star game, much less more than one person. If we should be upset about anyone not being invited to All-Star Weekend, it is fellow Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson getting snubbed from the Rookie Challenge game. Now that’s just not right.