I’ve been scanning every NBA-related website I know for the past four hours and have yet to find such a precedent: Never has there been an All-Star game where the NBA’s leading scorer has not played in the main event. It is about to happen this year as the NBA's coaches have decided not to include Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets in their seven-man Western Conference reserves selection. Of the top five on the scoring list, only number one was left out in the cold.

There are always cases where you can argue for guys left off the team, yet nothing like this has ever happened before. I stumbled upon an article from a well known NBA analyst who made this same point about just how damaging is the omission of Anthony and Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks. I sympathise with Howard’s case as well, but let’s be honest here: the guy would make it only because he is the second-best player on the team with the best record. Place him with these same stats and same gameplay on the San Antonio Spurs’ roster and you wouldn’t hear anyone complaining that he has not been selected.

In Howard’s case, it is more about being fair to the better teams. It simply doesn’t seem fair that Phoenix (with the second-best record) has three All-Stars while Dallas has only one. Yet such selection biases have been argued over and over again each year.

Anthony is a tougher one. Clearly the reason for his omission is more because of the 15-game suspension he received than about his achievements. The guy leads the league in scoring, is the leader of a playoffs-bound franchise, plus he is the first person in NBA history of consistently outscore Allen Iverson while being AI’s teammate. Of all of these arguments, the first reason is already enough to get him into an All-Star lineup. Yet the coaches probably felt uncomfortable about Anthony’s behavior. Unlike many pundits, I for one do not think that anybody who voted for the reserves considered the 15 games missed as such a big deal, but the reason for the suspension was the cause for concern. 

I feel that the coaches chickened out of this one. They already knew that Yao Ming’s replacement (due to injury) was to be named by commissioner David Stern, and I figure they probably preferred leaving the decision to him. The jury is still out on whether the 15 games suspension was enough punishment, or it had to be topped off with missing the All-Star game as well. What is intriuging is that with the probable absence of Carlos Boozer due to a recent injury, Stern might have to name two replacements to the western squad. If Anthony is not one of the two, then it will become absolutely clear that the omission is added punishment for a sentence already served. With all of these in mind I have decided to write an open letter to David Stern:

Dear Mr. Stern,
As a fan, I would like to remind you that offense and high scores are what make basketball a beautiful game that is fun to watch. With that in mind, every year either the fans or the coaches have had the wisdom of selecting the league’s top scorer to the All-Star Game.