The Red Zone Report

James is headed to his sixth straight All-Star game.

The NBA announced its starters for the 2010 All-Star game Thursday night on TNT. To no surprise, the fans voted the typical no-brainers into the starting line-ups.

LeBron James edged past Kobe Bryant as the leading vote getter. Both amassed over 2.5 million votes from the fans. James and Bryant will be joined by fellow starters, most of which are easy shoe-ins.

Bryant will be part of a Western Conference starting line-up that includes Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan, Denver Nuggets Forward Carmelo Anthony, who leads the league in scoring, and Suns center Amar’e Stoudemire. That line-up alone could create havoc in transition all night long, sans the aging Duncan of course.

James also has some star players joining him in the Eastern Conference’s starting line-up. Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard both received over 2.3 million votes to make the starting line-up. Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett will join the party too, creating a group of overly emotional starters.

But, there is one choice that leaves many scratching their heads.

The starting point guard for the East is Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson. Iverson finished eighth overall in voting despite having the worst season of his career to date.

Iverson is not the only place where the fans erred. If it weren’t for a late surge for Nash, Houston Rockets foward Tracy McGrady would be starting in the back court with Bryant.

Yes, the same Tracy McGrady who has played only six games this season and is currently on indefinite leave from the Houston Rockets.

I myself am a fan who has emotional stake with four teams in my hometown Chicago. So, I do appreciate the fan’s voice being heard.

But it may be time to reduce the fan’s input for the NBA All-Star game.

Thirty coaches choose reserves by voting for two guards, two forwards, a center, and two players regardless of position in their own conference.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the fans’ votes determined reserves.

This year, the fans easily chose guys like Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen for reserve spots on the Eastern Conference team. Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Paul, and Andrew Bynum? All good choices to be reserves in the West.

Vince Carter, the third leading vote getter amongst guards in the east, is a slap in the face. He’s having a solid year, but not one worthy of being an All-Star. Carter is averaging just over 16 points a game, nearly seven points under his career average.

Shaquille O’Neal? A great ambassador for the NBA since he came into the league in 1992, but he’s not an All-Star in 2010. Other centers in the East are having far better seasons. Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks comes to mind. His approximately 270,000 total votes would render him out of consideration as a reserve if it were up to the fans.

Joakim Noah is having a season that is making him the runaway favorite for the Most Improved Player Award. Yet, he’s not even part of the top 10 centers voted by the fans. Ahead of him includes names like Andrew Bogut, Jermaine O’Neal, and teammate Brad Miller, who backs up Noah.

Derrick Rose might make it to the game as a reserve, but he trails Carter, Iverson, and Allen. Allen is tolerable, but Carter and Iverson is a head scratcher. Even though he’s in his second year, Rose is perhaps one of the best point guards in the east.

Even if you think Rose is a bit too young to head to the game, why does Gilbert Arenas have more votes than Joe Johnson and Rajon Rondo ? Were fans afraid of being shot?

Most of those votes might have come before the incident in December and his January suspension, but Arenas was not having a better season than Johnson and Rondo.

The voting out west was pretty solid, but Pau Gasol has more votes than Kevin Durant. How? Durant is the definition of someone who should be at the All-Star game. He’s averaging over 29 points per game and is already one of the best forwards in the league.

Remember how Nash stopped McGrady from being a starter? Well, if fan voting mattered when choosing reserves, McGrady would be the reserve with the most votes in the West. Sorry, Aaron Brooks.

Brooks, a teammate of McGrady’s, has actually played enough this season to matter. He’s also been a surprise, averaging over 18 points a game and dishing out about 5 assists.

I agree that this game was targeted to serve as entertainment for the fans, meaning fans should be able to decide who they want to entertain them. But, those are often the most popular players, not the best players.

One of the reasons this is becoming a problem is the All-Star game has been used as a bench mark for the last 10 to 15 years to determine a player’s success. Instead of saying how many All-NBA teams a player has made, people within the media, as well as fans, use the All-Star appearances to measure the success of a player.

Should fans lose their ability to vote? Absolutely not. If I were named NBA commissioner today, I would divide it 50/50 between the fans and coaches.

Some people have suggested a one-third split between fans, coaches, and sports writers, but the last thing some sports writers needs is more power. That is why the Baseball Hall of Fame is screwed up.

Splitting it between the coaches and fans, in essence, would make the game both a popularity contest and a career achievement. Players would know they are both popular amongst fans and respected within the league.

Isn’t that the best of both worlds?