Calling Shenanigans on China

Last night, Chris Paul had 33 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals in the Hornets’ victory over the Mavs. That is a sick line. I know nobody pays attention to the NBA regular season, but CP3 is having another ridiculous year. He was First Team All-NBA last year, and was 2nd in the MVP race, behind Kobe. And he’s playing at the same level this season. I don’t think there’s any question that he’s the best point guard in the league. But, apparently being the best point guard in the league doesn’t get you a starting spot on the All Star team. Some might say this is because he plays in a small market, but I think that’s bullshit. I’m blaming China. Yes, the entire country of China.

As some of you may know, the Chinese apparently love basketball. Well, they at least love Yao Ming. He’s like a god over there. A very, very tall god. Because of the Chinese diefication of Yao, and the NBA’s practice of letting online fan voting determine the starting lineups in the All Star Game, Yao has been the starting center for the Western Conference every year since he entered in 2002. It was pretty ridiculous when he was voted in over Shaq back in the Shaq Diesel days, but it was palatable. Yao is a national hero in China, and he’s a good player (2nd team All-NBA twice), so whatever. He probably would have made the all-star team anyway.

But now, the Chinese love for Yao has spilled over onto one of his teammates, Tracy McGrady. As of last report, McGrady is leading Chris Paul for the second starting guard spot (behind Kobe) by about 160,000 votes. This is not acceptable. Don’t get me wrong, McGrady is a nice player, but he’s not having a good year. He probably shouldn’t even be in the All Star Game, much less a starter. How does a guy who’s missed almost a third of his team’s games, and who’s averaging only 15.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, and 5.0 apg get voted an All Star? (by the way, Paul’s averages: 20.8, 5.3, 11.2)

Maybe there are other theories as to how this is happening, but I think McGrady is getting spillover votes from all the Chinese Yao voters. It makes sense that fans of Yao will naturally become fans of his team, the Rockets. So, if they don’t have any opinions on the other positions, maybe they just choose the other players off of Yao’s team. This phenomenon has led over a million people to vote for McGrady and his unimpressive stats. But, this goes even further than McGrady. Rafer Alston has 372,130 votes. How do you like that, Skip to my f’ing Lou has more votes than Brandon Roy! Ridiculous. Just as ridiculous is the fact that 6 Rockets are among the top vote-getters. The Lakers have the best record in the West, and they only have 4. Unless there are hoards of closet Rocket fans across the country, this can only be due to the Chinese.

But, it doesn’t really matter that Alston, or Shane Battier, or Luis Scola are on the list of top vote-getters, none of those guys are going to receive enough votes to be named a starter. And, I doubt any of them will be chosen by the head coaches to fill out any of the bench slots, either. But knowing that McGrady is going to be named a starter, meaning Chris Paul will have to take a spot on the bench that could go to another deserving player (like Brandon Roy)...Well that just annoys me to no end.

Let me just say that I love the fact that the NBA lets the fans decide who starts in the game. But, it might be time to adjust things just a bit. The coaches already get to vote on who the bench players will be in the All Star Game, which leaves the players as the only group that doesn’t have any input. Maybe the NBA can change the rules so that the starters are determined by a combination of 50% fan voting and 50% player voting. I would guess, for the most part, this modification wouldn’t change the voting results all that much. But, it might be just the trick needed to keep the Chinese from making a mockery of the voting process by virtue of their sheer numbers. We can't let this continue.

You hear me, China? I’m on to you. As soon as I get David Stern on board, you’re done.

On a scale of one to Gus Johnson, this would be about a Jeff Van Gundy.