It’s No Big Deal If Jrue Doesn’t Make All-Star Team

Year after year I am more and more convinced that the All-Star game means almost nothing to the NBA players. Let me explain.

Jan 18, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jrue Holiday (11) celebrates making a shot during overtime against the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers defeated the Raptors 108-101 in OT. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The All-Star game (we’re going to abbreviate this as “ASG”), is something for the fans. That’s it. It doesn’t make or break your career. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t think any less or more of players whether they make the team or not. Besides, I don’t like the logic sometimes. How is Keven Garnett starting? How?

The fans. It’s all about the fans.

Hey, if they want KG to start, great. Good for them. Remember the 09-10 season? Allen Iverson returned and the fans decided they wanted to see a limping, not very good Iverson start for the East. This caused a lot of uproar in that the fans probably shouldn’t be making the final choice. Iverson ended up getting injured and didn’t play. But, when we talk about he greats of the game and who is the best NBA player of all time, how often do we talk about ASG appearances? Yeah, not much. Starting for an ASG pretty much means that the fans really like you as a player.

Jrue Holiday’s stat line says he’s an AS. I believe that. I also see him not making because of two reasons. It used to be one but now that we’re in the season a 2nd one has appeared. In the beginning of the season when Jrue was off to his blazing start, some folks saw him as an AS, as I did too. I also thought there was just too much talent in the East and I figured he wouldn’t make it, not because he wasn’t good, but he just wasn’t good enough.

The 2nd reason is how bad the Sixers are. Players are not often picked by the coaches if their team is doing poorly. Some could argue that he deserves to make it because of how valuable he is to the team. Clearly, the team is a complete mess when he’s not on the court. He’s clearly been the best player on the team for the season.

So now what? He doesn’t make the team. I guess it’s the end of his career, huh? No Hall of Fame? I’m not saying Jrue will make it to the Hall of Fame. I’m saying that his career will not be defined by how many ASG’s he’s played in. Who cares? I mean, it’s nice to play on a big stage and such but these games don’t even play defense. It’s a street game that just doesn’t matter.

Think about guys like Vince Carter or his cousin Tracy McGrady. They made a lot of ASG’s. But I’m pretty sure they won’t make the HOF.

Now, it’s like a rectangle and square. All squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are square. It’s the same here. Just about all the HOF folks have been involved in ASG’s. But, not everybody that plays in a ASG will make the HOF. It may play a part in your HOF career to be in the ASG but we all know it’s not what will define his career.

So on January 24th, if they decide Jrue won’t make it, we’ll just shrug and say “Okay”. Jrue Holiday is definitely a star. He’s our star. Let’s make sure we appreciate what we have in Jrue, even if nobody else does.