But occasionally there are players who really just shouldn’t be there, but do for some ridiculous reason or another. They are sbuns; the opposite of snubs. Let’s go over the top three vote recipients by position in both conferences and deem worthiness.

The top three Eastern Conference forwards so far are Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Thankfully there’s not much to change here. Bosh isn’t having his best season, but he’s still the third best forward in the east. KG and LeBron are runaways for not only best forwards in the east, but best players in the league. That’s a really strong group for forwards in the east.

One guy I’d like to see play is former dunk champ Josh Smith. He’s playing great this year, leading the NBA in blocks and just turned 22 this month.

At guard in the east, we have Dwyane Wade, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter. Dwyane has been hurt, but is still amazing and getting better. Jason Kidd is always terrific to have at these games because he’s terrific at throwing lobs.

Hey, you say, why Vince? He’s not playing that well! Shouldn’t we put someone more deserving in there? The answer of course is no. In any other situation, it would of course be yes, but Vince Carter is half man, half amazing. As soon as anyone else in the world leaps over a 7’2” human being in a competitive game, we’ll stop giving Vince the go-to-All-Star-Game-no-matter-what cards.

Let’s also ignore any silliness about Chauncey Billups going to the All-Star game. There are too many other worthy candidates to let Mr. Overrated play. Why not have two-time slam dunk champ Jason Richardson provide a show? Or the multi-faceted Andre Iguodala show his stuff?

The Center is really dominated by one man in the East, and that is Dwight Howard, who thankfully is first. He is followed by Shaquille O’Neal and Rasheed Wallace. Normally I would be opposed to the last two, even though both have been key players on championship teams. Neither one is playing that well, though, and both are well passed their prime. Regardless, Shaq has a new toy that he brings to the All-Star game every year, plus he’s like the league’s uncle; he’s been around and he knows some stuff.

What I can’t stand is when people want Ben Wallace at the All-Star game. Why? Oh neat, he has an afro! The guy averages 4.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 32 minutes and will make $15,500,000 next year. No thanks.

Moving out West, the forwards look so much better than in previous years. The top three are Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan. The best part about this list is that Duncan isn’t at the top. Honestly, who would want to watch this guy at an All-Star game? He may be a good power forward, but he is not entertaining. He’s said it himself, and I won’t argue with the guy.

Here I make a case to remove Dirk and Timmy and replace them with Carlos Boozer, who as you can see is outplaying Duncan, and the eternal Shawn Marion. Both of these players are more likely to throw down a real dunk as opposed to Tim Duncan’s “I don’t want to hurt my finger” dunks. With Dirk, I think it’s just best if he lays low for awhile. I still haven’t recovered from being totally wrong—along with everyone else in the world outside of Oakland—about last years first round against the Warriors, and I doubt that he has either. Let Marion go to the game and throw down some nice Nash oops.

The Western Guard spot is tough. The top three are Kobe, T-Mac and Steve Nash. All of these guys have to go, too. Personally I’m not a Kobe fan, but anyone who scores 81 points in a game gets the same card as Vince carter. Nash will make the fancy passes and, like Kidd, keep the game from getting sloppy.

But there are major snubs about to happen. Baron Davis was the best player in the playoffs last year, barring LeBron’s performance against the Pistons in game 5. So he has to be there. And what would an All-Star game be without Allen Iverson? Then again, aren’t Chris Paul and Deron Williams both playing out of their minds this year? Even Denver’s JR Smith can throw down some really impressive dunks. Such a tough call on this one, but there is still one really easy call…

No Tony Parker or Ginobili. With the list of eligible players above, no one with a functioning brain would suggest that these two should even be allowed to watch the game. What terrific traveling violations the officials would have to ignore if they were there. Please, don’t let this happen hoop fans.

The Western Center position is all messed up. The top three are Yao Ming, Amaré Stoudemire and Erick Dampier. I can’t believe that Dampier is even on the list. 4 points and 6 boards in 18 minutes a game does not sound like All-Star to me. That’s how Brad Miller played a few years ago.

Marcus Camby, Tyson Chandler and Chris Kaman are all more than adequate subs vs. the inevitable Yao and undeserving and slow Dampier. Even Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge is playing great right now and deserves a trip more than Dampier.

You can email the JackDaddy at jackhoops@gmail.com

When teams get special treatment, unfair calls, use unsportsmanlike conduct and cheat on the court, it's a disgrace to the game. Anyone who actually likes the sport would be opposed to that kind of action taking place at all. Do you know what Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear would say if the Spurs roster was suspended indefinitely and the league was free of them?

"If you don't like that, you don't like NBA basketball!"

I love NBA basketball.

They were miserable in the fourth and it cost them the game, but Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post insulted Iverson with this little gem:

What I saw that night was something very different. I saw Denver not knowing the Lakers personnel on defense. Sure, Kobe had been playing facilitator for three quarters, but who thought that would continue in the fourth? Surely Kobe as well as you saw the verbal lashing that LeBron James took in last years post-season for deferring to a teammate in clutch situations, and you clearly should have known who to double team, or at least stay close to.

Here's how I look at it, when you compare Kobe's greatness to other perimeter NBA stars, you have to do it this way: Kobe's success without Shaq vs. Iverson's success without Shaq. It's insulting to Allen Iverson to blame this loss on his being a lesser Hall Of Famer. The Answer took a team of scrubs, and I mean nobodies, to the NBA Finals and upset the Lakers in game one. He was simply heroic in just how good he was and how hard he played for those Sixers. Who was Iverson's number two in those days? Aaron McKie? Matt Harpring? Dikembe Mutumbo? Scrubs!

Kobe on the other hand has yet to make it past the first round without Shaq, so maybe he should be compared to Tracy McGrady more often than Michael Jordan, since T-Mac also seems to have allergies to the second round. Also, the common misconception that Kobe is clutch is wrong and annoying. It was mentioned on ESPN's daily dime this week how Bryant is only a 50% free throw shooter in one point games with under 60 seconds left, which explains why in that same situation against Denver he made just one of two.

What I'm trying to get at here isn't that Iverson is better or even as good as Kobe. I think both are legitimate HOF players whose reputation shouldn't be tarnished because of one game. I'm saying that something else needs to be factored in here, something I've said before.

The Nuggets need to fire their coach.

That's what happened on Wednesday night. Phil Jackson, also known as the Zen Master, has won an NBA record nine championships. Jackson knew what would work and told his players to do it. George Karl has won zero championships, despite coaching Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp in their prime, Sam Cassell, Ray Allen and Glen Robinson in their respective primes, and now this ultra-talented Nuggets team.

Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Carmelo Anthony hardly touched the ball, JR Smith took some bad shots, Iverson shot over double teams, and their defense not only did not double team Kobe late, but left him wide open repeatedly. Anyone who has watched even a few Lakers games should know what their game plan is late in close games.

So don't say Iverson is just a scorer and not really a great player. Keep in mind the $30 million mastermind hobbling in front of the Lakers bench.

As the first 25% of the season comes to an end, we see that the reigning MVP is hardly reigning. In fact, Dirk's shooting percentage from the field, three, and free throw line are all down from his career marks, and drastically lower than last years standard.

I honestly asked myself this question during last years playoff series with Golden State. The Warriors elminated Nowitzki's catch and spin move by bringing in a double team mid-spin. This became a turn over virtually every time, which forced Dirk to either a) shoot over a double team, or b) pass as soon as possible.

In last nights loss to the Duncan-less Spurs, the Mavs All-Star took only 11 shots in defeat, including his missed 3 pointer that could have been the game winner. Normally after someone wins the MVP award they're a guaranteed contender for at least the next year, especially when they're still in their twenties. It doesn't look like that now for the big German.

I'm not going to throw a bunch of numbers in your face here; we all know he's got the best all around numbers since 1987, but it's his will and ability that have impressed me this year. I watched the Cavs play the Kings at Arco this year and saw LeBron erase a defecit and deny the Kings a win. A play that comes to mind was one in which LeBron was headed to the basket and Mikki Moore and Brad Miller both hit him hard.

LeBron took the hit and finished the layup, but instead of LeBrons usual "playin' it cool" after a clutch shot, he slammed his fist against his chest with his teeth barred. You could almost see saliva fly from his frothing mouth; he was like an unstoppable gladiator. It was amazing to see someone that good simply refusing to lose. It became clear that LeBron is the greatest talent in the world right now.

Contrary to every expert out there, I predicted that the Bucks would be awful. They have a group of nobodies surrounding Michael Redd, who joins Joe Johnson in the "best player in the league not good enough to be a franchise player" club. I'm not sure why everyone thought they would be so good; obviously Bogut is a bust for a number one pick, and Redd can't play any better, what was the rational behind that?

Ok, end of my bluffing, I have no idea who chooses what games are on TV, but they need to be fired. I can't keep track of how many times the Nuggets play Golden State or Phoenix plays Dallas, but the NBA decides to air San Antonio against Portland or Detroit against Milwaukee. Do they know why the ratings are down? If the game is a combination of a lottery team and/or Detroit or San Antonio, NO ONE wants to see it.

It's a shame that I know the Pistons and Spurs bench players but have never seen a Hawks game ever. I know that conflicts with my no lottery team theory, but they have some exciting young guys on that team that people don't even know about.

You can email your questions or comments to jackhoops@gmail.com