2025 NBA Paris Games are a reminder of how international the NBA has become

                                           (Victor Wembanyama. Credit: Stephanie Lecocq-Imagn Images) 

Back in 2020, the NBA had their first installment of the Paris Games, an extension of the NBA Global Games, which have been going on since the very beginning of the 1990s. I still remember the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves playing in Tokyo in 1999. This past week, the NBA returned to Paris as the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers played a pair of games. The Spurs won the first game on Thursday by a final score of 140-110 while the Pacers got even in the second game on Saturday by final score of 136-98.

Of course, the big star of the event was Spurs 7'3" wunderkind Victor Wembanyama, who hails from Le Chesnay in the Paris region. The games were a homecoming for Wembanyama as he got to showcase his skills in front of an enthusiastic French crowd that included former Spurs star and fellow Frenchman Tony Parker. Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3.0 blocks during the two-game showcase, putting up 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks in the victory on Thursday. 

The Paris Games are a reminder of how international the game of basketball has become. 30 years ago, if you had two NBA teams playing in Paris, there wouldn't have been any French players participating, let alone be the star of one of the teams. As a matter of fact, it was Tariq Abdul-Wahad (drafted as Oliver Michael Saint-Jean) who became the first NBA player to ever have been raised in France when the Kings selected him 11th overall in the 1997 NBA Draft. Soon thereafter, Tony Parker burst onto the scene for the Spurs and as they say, the rest is history. France is now a hotbed of NBA talent, producing some of the brightest stars in the game. 

As I occasionally mention, I cover Stanford for Rivals.com over at CardinalSportsReport.com. Their star basketball player is Maxime Raynaud, who also hails from France and has played with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert as part of the French national team. After Stanford's dominant 88-51 victory over Miami last week, I asked Raynaud for his thoughts on the Paris Games. He was certainly excited to see how they played out and what kind of show Wembanyama would put on. 

"Yeah, I mean, it's amazing," Raynaud said. "I'm sure happy for Vic. I love the fact that he's able to take the league back to his hometown and I love the fact that he took the time to spend time with the kids in Nanterre where they worked out. I hope he's going to have an amazing game and just put French basketball on the, I don't even know how you say that, we're already on the map. 

"But yeah, no, super happy for him, super happy with the way he's playing this year, and I really hope he's going to dominate this game. I mean, that's what he does every night. So yeah. And at the same time, I hope they're going to enjoy the city a little bit. I mean, the City of Love, you know what I'm saying? Gonna have a good time." 

Overall, it seems like the Paris Games went well for the NBA in terms of their global outreach. It's a bit of a bummer neither game was close, but the main thing is that Wembanyama played well and reconnected with his roots. I'm sure the NBA fans in France were thrilled with the product and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. 

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Tomahawk Tuesday: The San Antonio Spurs need Kawhi Leonard to stay healthy

Over the weekend, it was revealed that Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss the entire preseason as he continues to rehab from a right quadriceps injury. Last season, the San Antonio Spurs appeared to be on the verge of upsetting the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals until Leonard went down with a sprained ankle, keeping him out for the rest of the series.

While this is the preseason and not the playoffs, it is not good for the Spurs to start their season right where they left off, which is with an injured Kawhi Leonard. In order for them to come out of the Western Conference, they need to have Leonard playing his best basketball. If he isn't able to stay healthy, they have no chance at reaching the NBA Finals.

While this should be obvious to everyone who follows the NBA, it is still important to underscore this. With all the major moves that happened this offseason, it is easy to forget about the Spurs and just how dangerous they are. They were perhaps a healthy Kawhi Leonard away from winning the NBA Finals last season, which just goes to show how good Leonard is and how significant his health is to the fate of this NBA season.

Last season, Leonard averaged 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game on 48.5% shooting from the field, 38.0% shooting from three-point range, and 88.0% shooting from the foul line, establishing himself as one of the most multidimensional players in the league. He does so much for this Spurs team on both of the floor. With him, they can compete with any team in the league over the course of a seven game series. Without him, they're a playoff team that might win a first round series. His impact is that significant.

                                          (Getty Images) 

Hopefully, Leonard's absence in the preseason is just an indicator of the Spurs being extra cautious with him and nothing more than that. If he's ready to roll on opening night without any restrictions, it will be fair to wonder whether or not this blog post is an overreaction to what happened last season. At the same time, given what happened last season, it's hard to call this an overreaction after seeing what happened to the Spurs once Leonard went down.

It should be noted that the Spurs have other things to worry about in addition to Leonard's health. Tony Parker is recovering from a torn quadriceps tendon and it isn't yet clear when he'll be able to play. The Spurs can't afford to start the season with two of their best players unable to contribute. At the very least, they need to have Leonard ready to rock and hope that Parker is able to return sooner rather than later. As good as LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay are, they are a supplement to those two guys and aren't the pulse of this team. They'll play much better when they have those guys to lean on.

At this point, if you are the Spurs, you just have to hope that Leonard is able to go at the start of the regular season and that this quadriceps injury isn't anything too serious. The Spurs have the pieces to contend for a title this season, but they need to stay healthy and make sure they don't get themselves behind the eight ball early on. The Western Conference is simply too loaded for them to overcome a sluggish start to the season.

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Wednesday Windmill: Regardless of record, the Spurs should be favored to win the NBA title

     The San Antonio Spurs have now won nine straight games and only are half a game back of the #3 seeded Houston Rockets. While the Golden State Warriors have rightfully stolen the show for the regular season, the San Antonio Spurs appear poised to steal the show in the playoffs and repeat as NBA champions.

     What is especially alarming about their winning streak is that they've beaten some really good teams and in the process gained some serious ground in the standings. The Spurs have beaten the Thunder, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Warriors, and Rockets over these last nine games, and as a result look likely to have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

     The only thing that other teams in the West could hang their hat on before this streak began was that the Spurs would likely have to go on the road to win every series they played. Not that the Spurs can't win a series without home court advantage, but having to win four straight series' without home court advantage is too tall of an order for even the best of NBA teams.

      But now that the Spurs look likely to enter the playoffs with a really good seed, there really is no reason to pick against them. They are playing really good basketball, beating really good teams, and seem to be peaking at the right time. The only thing that can stand in the way of the Spurs and another NBA title is injuries. Tony Parker has experienced some tightness in his Achilles, which is scary for the Spurs, but so far he appears to be ok. So long as nothing catastrophic happens to Parker or any other key member on this Spurs team, they have to be considered the favorite to come out of the West and win the NBA championship.

     We would be fools to doubt their ability to win it all after seeing how they torched the Heat less than one year ago. I'm not saying the Warriors can't take out the Spurs or that they shouldn't have confidence to beat the Spurs, because they should. But if we are using history as a guide, we have to look at how the Spurs are playing right now as an indicator that they are likely to come out of the West and demolish whichever team it is that they face in the NBA Finals.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord 

2014-15 Southwest Division Preview

   

                                          (credit 7poundbag.com)
   
     The NBA season starts today, so I'm trying to get these previews under the gun! I am moving on to my preview of the Southwest Division, home to the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Pelicans. As has been standard protocol on my previews, I will list each team in order of where I think they will finish with their win total in parentheses.

   

                                              San Antonio Spurs (59) 

     

     The machine that is known as the San Antonio Spurs is coming off their fifth NBA championship in franchise history and they don't show any signs of slowing down. Just when you think they are ready to head for a "re-building" period, they continue to find ways to compete, contend, and win NBA championships. 

     What is probably most frightening for opponents of the Spurs is the emergence of Kawhi Leonard as the next superstar of the franchise. The franchise appears to be in good hands with Kawhi Leonard as their star once Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker retire. In addition to Leonard, Tiago Splitter also appears to be on the verge of being another key piece to build around for years to come. 

     As for this season, Splitter and especially Leonard should really take the pressure off of the Spurs' "Big Three", allowing them to spend more time resting for the playoffs without the worry of losing too much ground in the standings. The key to the Spurs' success is the balance between making sure their core veterans are rested for the playoffs and also making sure that they are still winning enough games in the regular season to position themselves well for the playoffs. The Spurs appear to have the pieces to accomplish the goal of keeping the old guys fresh while also making a run for the top spot in the West. So long as they are able to do this, they are sure to be a really scary team. 

     Lastly, the Spurs have Gregg Popovich, who in my opinion is arguably the greatest coach in the history of the NBA. If there is any man who can help the Spurs maintain a perfect balance between rest and playoff positioning, it's Gregg Popovich. He will once again do a masterful job with this team and make sure his guys are ready for the playoffs. 

                                              Houston Rockets (54) 

     

     The Houston Rockets are truly what I call a "two-man freak show" now that Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons are gone. This "freak show" consists of James Harden and Dwight Howard. Harden continues to be one of the league's best shooting guards, averaging 25.4 points and 6.1 assists per game last season and Howard is still the league's best center. 

     The key thing to look for in this Rockets team is whether or not both of these guys are ready to carry the load and take on the responsibility of being the leaders of a championship caliber team. This team was designed to be a contending team with Howard and Harden as the foundation. It's time that these two guys prove that they can be such a foundation. 

     The Rockets don't have a championship caliber supporting cast around Howard and Harden, but that doesn't mean Howard and Harden can't play like a championship caliber duo. The Rockets' success this season has to be measured by the performance of Howard and Harden as a duo and not by the team's overall success. 

     This team as presently constituted, even if Howard and Harden become a championship caliber duo, is not going to win the Western Conference crown. The very best case scenario for the Rockets is that they win a series and maybe take 2 games in the next round. If they do that, they can be confident in Howard and Harden as their duo for the future. 

     

     

                                                Dallas Mavericks (52)

When looking at the Mavericks' roster, the first thing that jumps out at me is all the possible options they have at point guard. They have Monta Ellis (more of a shooting guard), Jameer Nelson, Devin Harris, and Raymond Felton all on their roster. This is rather unusual and I expect them to trade one of these guards before the trade deadline. 

     Anyways, on to the rest of the team! Dirk Nowitzki is still getting it done as one of the league's best players, averaging 21.7 points per game last season. He showed last season that he is still capable of leading a team to a championship provided he gets enough help. Does he have enough help? I don't think so, but Monta Ellis is a really nice #2 option for the Mavericks to have as is newly acquired small forward Chandler Parsons, who is coming over from their in-state rival Houston Rockets. Both of those guys are really solid players who help take the pressure off of Dirk Nowitzki. 

     Ultimately, I expect the Mavericks to be in the playoff mix all season and if they get a good first round opponent, they could find themselves in the second round of the playoffs. However, the Western Conference is really competitive and a lot of teams will be breathing down the Mavericks' neck all season. Look for the Mavericks to be a competitive team this season, but not a contending team. 

                                             

                                            Memphis Grizzlies (51) 

     The Memphis Grizzlies are coming off a very good season in which they took the Oklahoma City Thunder to a Game 7 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Last year they had a really competitive team that didn't quite seem to be able to get over the hump. Can they get over the hump this year? 

     Reason to believe that they can is that they added Vince Carter, which is a signing I have applauded on BealeStreetBears.com, a Memphis Grizzlies website I write for. The reason why I applaud this signing is that Carter brings three-point shooting, experience, an additional scoring punch, and a clutch factor to the team. He's a guy who this team can trust to hit big shots in big moments. While the team is still built around Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley, Carter's presence will be huge this season as a guy who can on occasion step up like they do. 

     The Grizzlies should once again be a competitive team this season. Their core group is intact with Tony Allen as the heart and soul of their grind it out defensive style of play. They also added Jordan Adams from UCLA in the draft to give them another much needed long-ball threat. This team has the makeup to make some noise in the playoffs as we saw last season. But it remains to be seen whether or not they can make the jump from scaring teams like the Thunder and Clippers to actually knocking them out of the playoffs. 

     

                         

                                                     New Orleans Pelicans (39)

     Anthony Davis appears to be on the verge of superstardom which should be great news for the Pelicans. The problem for them, however,  is that this could also indicate he's on the verge of leaving. The key thing for this Pelicans team to do is convince Anthony Davis that he can compete in New Orleans and that they are capable of building a competitive team around him. If they can do that this season, then they'll have had a good year. 

     Whether or not they accomplish this goal largely comes down to health. Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, and Eric Gordon, who all are the main guys built around Davis, have had injuries during their careers. If they can stay healthy and figure out how to play together, things could look rather promising for the Pelicans. If they don't stay healthy, then things will look rough and complicated for the Pelicans as well as the future of Anthony Davis with the team. 

     As for this season, I don't expect the Pelicans to make the playoffs or come close. They should improve from last season and come close to 40 wins, but they'll likely need at least 44 wins to make the playoffs.  I don't see them making that kind of improvement in one season. 

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord 

2014 NBA Finals Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat

                                            (credit: rsenetwork.net) 

The 2014 NBA Finals starts tonight, which means it is time for my annual NBA Finals preview. In case you haven't been following the NBA playoffs at all, the NBA Finals is between the Eastern Conference champions Miami Heat and the Western Conference champions San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have home court advantage and for the first time since 1984, the NBA Finals will not be in the 2-3-2 format but instead the 2-2-1-1-1 format.

Probably the most unique part about this series is that it is an NBA Finals rematch from last year. The last time the same two teams faced off in the NBA Finals for the second year in a row was 1998 when the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls squared off for the second straight time. Like the 1998 NBA Finals, the Eastern Conference champs won the previous NBA Finals matchup. Also like the 1998 NBA Finals, the Western Conference team is billed as the better overall team but the Eastern Conference team is billed as having the game's best player. I'm not saying LeBron James is in the same league as Michael Jordan, but I am saying that like Jordan in 1998, LeBron James is the league's best player. What this NBA Finals is really about is whether or not a better overall team can take out a team that has the best player in the world. The Jazz couldn't overcome the Bulls, and now we will see if the Spurs can overcome the Heat.

One important difference between the 1998 NBA Finals and the 2014 NBA Finals is that the Spurs have won 4 NBA titles going into this series and the Jazz had won zero, so I do like the Spurs' odds better than I would have liked the odds of the Jazz. Still, it is really hard to pick against a team that has the league's best player. The NBA is a league that ultimately is dominated by superstars at an almost disproportionate rate. But with that being said, to say that the Heat win this series is to say that even though the Spurs have home court advantage, a deeper team, a better coach, and have beaten better teams to get to the NBA Finals, the Heat will still find a way to win the series because LeBron James is a force of nature like unto Michael Jordan. I do not think he is a force of nature like Michael Jordan, which is a big reason why I think that the Heat will fall short of their goal of a three-peat.

But with that being said, I don't mean to "slight" the Miami Heat in the way that LeBron James feels like they have. The Heat are the two-time defending champions who have been to three straight NBA Finals. That means that they have to be doing something right. What makes the Heat so dangerous is that when healthy (and they are healthy right now), the Heat have the NBA's best starting lineup. LeBron James is the best player in the NBA and easily one of the top 10 greatest players of all time (probably top 5), and Dwyane Wade is one of the top 5 shooting guards of all-time. When you have two hall of fame players who are among the very best to do what they do on the same team, you have yourself a team that is very difficult to stop. In addition, the Heat have a very underrated power forward in Chris Bosh who has evolved into a lethal threat on the perimeter and they also have a couple of guys who make great role players in Ray Allen and Shane Battier. Both guys are good to hit clutch shots and both play very unselfishly. To say the least, the Heat have a team that is a quasi all-star team, and that makes them very tough to beat.

But while we talk about how star-laden the Heat are, it isn't like the Spurs are a team that doesn't have stars and hall of famers of their own. On their team they have Tim Duncan, who is indisputably the greatest power forward of all-time, Tony Parker, who is arguably the best point guard in the NBA and one of the greatest point guards ever, and a wily old Manu Ginobili who still has tricks up his sleeves and still likes to remind us why he is a hall of fame player. Point guard play and play in the paint is where the Heat are most vulnerable and that's a problem for them because that is where the Spurs excel the most. Tim Duncan still gets it done inside and Tony Parker carves up defenses like he is carving a Thanksgiving turkey. In addition, the Spurs have fantastic wing players to prevent defenses from collapsing on Tony Parker with Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Marco Belinelli, and Kawhi Leonard all capable of knocking down threes with relative ease. What makes the Spurs so tough is that not only do they have hall of fame players to come through in crunch time, but they also have fantastic role players who at times can be equally dangerous. In this discussion, we haven't even brought up Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, Matt Bonner, or Corey Joseph who are additional guys that the Heat have to worry about. When you look at the Spurs as a collective whole, they can beat you in multiple ways, with 11 guys who are all capable of doing serious damage when called upon.

The Heat have nothing close to that kind of depth, and they ultimately need LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to play well in order for them to win this series. The Spurs on the other hand do not need one or two particular players to play well. They run a very well-oiled system that allows different players to step up and cover for guys who are having a rough night. Even if Tony Parker is having a bad night or is injured, the Spurs can still find ways to win because what they rely on more than anything is their system and not one or two particular players. The Heat don't have this luxury. They must have LeBron James play well in this series or they are doomed. If he has a bad night, they are done. It is that simple.

Ultimately, the fact that the margin for error is smaller for the Heat than it is for the Spurs is why I am picking the Spurs to win this series in 7 games. They have more weapons, more options, and a coach in Gregg Popovich who knows how to put those weapons to use. The Heat's head coach Erik Spoelstra has less options and he must rely on LeBron James to will the Heat to victory in order for the Heat to win this series. There are adjustments he can do like putting Chris Andersen with Chris Bosh, or moving LeBron James to the power forward position in certain situations, but ultimately there is less within his control. Spoelstra's role as head coach is much more like the boss of a company who makes sure everybody is doing their job, whereas Popovich's job is much more like a musical composer asked to compose a symphony using a variety of instruments. Spoelstra just needs to make sure everybody does their job and Popovich on the other hand tries to find creative ways to bring out the french horn and have it carry the melody (Yes, Boris Diaw is the French Horn of the Spurs).

 The point is, the philosophies of both coaches is very different because of the tools they've been given to work with. Spoelstra has the best two tools to work with in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but Gregg Popovich has more tools to work with who collectively are better than the sum of all the tools that Erik Spoelstra has. Typically teams with the best player win a 7 game series in the NBA, but they can be beaten by teams that are way better than them collectively and are better overall teams. I think the Spurs as an overall team are much better than the Heat, which is why I have them winning this series in 7 games.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord 

The NBA Needs To Fix Its All-Star Selection Process And Possibly Ban Fan Voting All Together

The NBA All-Star Game claims to be a game that features the best players in the game of basketball, rewarding those who have played the best basketball over the first half of the NBA season. However, in recent years, those who get the most all-star votes are frequently not the most deserving players. For example, Kobe Bryant has over 500,000 all-star votes for this season while only having played a couple of games so far. In addition to that, Jeremy Lin has more all-star votes than Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker, James Harden, and nearly 5 times the votes of Damian Lillard; and Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge (the two best power forwards in the Western Conference and possibly the NBA), don't have as many all-star votes as Blake Griffin, who is certainly all-star worthy, but not worthy of being an all-star starter.

I could go on and on about other blatant issues with the voting results thus far (Steve Nash having more votes than Damian Lillard; Ray Allen having nearly 100,000 votes; and Kyrie Irving having 3 times as many votes as John Wall), but I will instead try to be solutions oriented and propose some changes to some obvious flaws in the all-star voting system.

Change #1: Don't Allow Fans To Vote Until Christmas; Make Players Play an x number of games before they can get votes. 

This change would fix a lot of problems I think. This would prevent cases like Kobe Bryant getting half a million votes before playing a single minute. If the NBA wants to have the All-Star Game reward the best players in the game with the honors of starting, then they need to make sure that those who are durable and those who actually have played games get the honor of starting. Without this change, the NBA All-Star Game will have to change its name to the NBA Most Popular Players Game, which is actually a different category than being an "All-Star". An "All-Star" is supposed to be a player who exemplifies excellence in the sport among the world's best, not a player who wins a popularity contest. By having players have to play a certain amount of games before they are eligible to be voted for, this would at least guarantee that in order to get in the all-star game as a starter you have to have participated in the season to a certain extent. Guys like Kobe Bryant under this system would either (a) not appear on the ballot until playing a certain portion of games (e.g. 15 games) or (b) appear on the ballot but be locked, meaning that until they play say 15 games, they won't be able to be voted for.

Change #2: Put A Reminder On The Ballot About What An "All-Star" Is

This may not do anything, but it would help if the NBA at least put on its ballot front and center something along the lines of: "An all-star is one who has excelled most at the game of basketball over the course of the season. One should receive votes not based on achievements from previous seasons, celebrity status, or out of blinded favoritism. Voting for an all-star is a vote for a player who you think is honestly deserving of this high honor of based on their play. Votes for reasons other than that are considered unfair by the league."

Now one may ask what good will that do? Probably not much, but it would at least be a reminder to fans under what criteria they should be voting on. It would also add an extra sense of weight and seriousness to the event. Fans should know that being voted an all-star starter is a tremendous honor and that it isn't fair for certain players to not get votes because they play in a smaller market, etc.

Change #3: Be More Selective On Who Gets On The Main All-Star Ballot 

Technically, every NBA player is eligible to be voted for an all-star starting job, but only a select amount are front and center on the ballot. The fact that Jeremy Lin has 5 times the number of votes as Damian Lillard is absurd and an embarrassment that shows an obvious flaw in the voting process. What flaw is that? The flaw is that a player who gains votes entirely based on his international outreach and not basketball abilities is front and center for all to vote for. I like Jeremy Lin a tremendous amount and I respect his journey, etc. But he honestly isn't a player good enough to be one of the select few who are front and center on the ballot. He should have to be voted in via the write-in option, which would lower his all-star votes since so many people would be like "Where's Jeremy Lin?" or at least be too lazy to scroll down and vote him in via write-in. The NBA should only put players on the ballot who they think are clearly all-star worthy or worthy of being starters. Aside from that, everybody else should be write-in.

Change #4: Have A Minimum Stats Requirement For All-Stars 

This would be a really easy thing for the league to implement. I don't know why they don't do this. All the NBA needs to do to ensure the best players get voted in is make the criteria for being an all-star starter a certain level of ability. The best stat to use for this is the efficiency rating, which factors in all player statistics and puts it into a +/- score. The best efficiency ratings are around +25 and above (Kevin Love and Kevin Durant are nearly at +30). In order to be an all-star starter, the league should make it so that a player has to be at +25 or higher in order to be a starter. If two players are both above this level of efficiency, then the fan vote decides from there. E.g. If Blake Griffin gets an efficiency at +25 or higher, then he should be able to start ahead of Kevin Love by having more votes than Kevin Love even though Kevin Love has played better. However, if Griffin doesn't make this mark of efficiency, then having more votes than Kevin Love won't allow him to start ahead of Love (or LaMarcus Aldridge for that matter). I think this type of system would be a fair hybrid between letting the fans decide and making sure the best players in the NBA get to start.

Change #5: Threaten To Take Away Fan Voting Privileges

This seems like a mean tactic, but it's not as mean as the sixth change that I'll propose (I think you will figure out what it will be if you haven't already). Threatening to take away fan voting privileges may be something that the NBA should consider. They should threaten to take away fan voting on the grounds of integrity, stating that unless fan voting starts to more accurately reflect who really should be an all-star starter, then the league will resort to having players, owners, general managers, and coaches make the decisions on who should be an all-star starter as well as an all-star reserve. It would be interesting to see how voting results would differ if the league made such a statement.

Change #6: Take Away Fan Voting Privileges 

If the NBA threatens to take away fan voting privileges, and the fans still vote like idiots, then the NBA will have no choice to but to follow through on their threat and actually cut fans off from the voting process entirely. Seems mean, huh? Well, the reality is that those who are casting these idiotic votes are pissing off the rest of us who are educated basketball fans. Guys like me who vote for Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Stephen Curry because they are the best players at their positions would happily welcome any change that prevented idiot fans from altering the all-star selection process even if it meant that our ability to vote has to be taken away. The NBA says "The game is for the fans", but which "fans"are they talking about? What constitutes a "fan"? A true basketball fan wants to see the best players rewarded for their hard work and see the best five players from each conference start the all-star game. They don't want to see an aging has-been start while the best players sit on the bench to start the game. If the NBA wants to reward the real basketball fans and not the fake fans with blind allegiances to certain players and their own teams, then the NBA should ban fan voting, and give the educated fans who really care about the game the comfort of knowing that guys like them are making the decisions on who is and who isn't an all-star.

If the NBA were to make this change (which I would be happy with), then they should at least allow fans to vote on who should be in the dunk contest, the skills competitions, etc. This should happen at the expense of players' wishes. They should allow fans to vote for whoever they want for these events, which means that if LeBron James gets voted to do the dunk contest, then he has to do it. This way, the more casual fans  who vote based on celebrity status or other non-basketball related reasons would get to see their favorite players participate in a wide variety of events on all-star weekend, but the integrity of the all-star game would remain intact. I think under this system we have a win-win situation. The all-star game would truly represent the best current players in the game (since the only votes are coming from people within the league) and the former stars or players with only celebrity status would still make appearances for those fans who want to see them play even if they aren't worthy of being actual all-stars.

In conclusion, how many of these changes do I actually welcome? The answer is all six, and the last change I welcome the most. The NBA has a problem, and that problem is that they have a system in place which doesn't reward the best players in the NBA with a chance to be an all-star starter. It rather rewards players who play in bigger markets and also rewards delusional fans who don't vote for the right reasons. The NBA has to make changes to make the All-Star Game a game for the best players in the world to shine, and not a game that rewards players based on some other criteria.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord