The moment someone mentioned LeBron James' name Friday afternoon, Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, distanced himself from the decision that left the NBA's greatest young stars out of the All-Star Game.
"They're not not here because of me," Carlisle said good-naturedly but pointedly. "LeBron James isn't not here because of me. I voted for him."
The Western Conference is packed with really good players, and Carmelo Anthony did not make the cut. The East is packed, too, and James did not make it either.
PHOTO: AP
"Carmelo had to be very close; LeBron had to be very close," said Carlisle, the Indiana Pacers' coach. "It's very unfortunate because they're both deserving."
Everyone knows that Anthony and James should be in the All-Star Game. I don't care how many guards the East has, or how many forwards the West has. Any All-Star team without them is a partial team.
Carlisle gave the best rationale for why these two rookies have earned their keep: It is a huge accomplishment to be incredibly hyped, then to live up to it.
"A lot was heaped on their plate before they ever put a uniform on or ever played a minute of NBA exhibition basketball," Carlisle said. "They're doing their best, and they're exceeding what were unbelievably high expectations and, quite frankly, unfair expectations."
So why weren't they All-Stars?
It may have something to do with the perceived need to juice up Friday night's rookie game. Essentially, James and Anthony took one for the league, and they delivered.
James scored 33 points, several on dunks assisted by Anthony, who scored 17 points, in a game completely devoid of defense. Despite the presence of James and Anthony, the rookie team lost to a team of second-year players, 142-118.
Why does it even matter?
The All-Star Game is the NBA's midseason Super Bowl, the best of these exhibitions, much more intriguing than football and hockey's version, more tied into contemporary culture than baseball's.
The game matters largely because of the way basketball flows in the American cultural bloodstream.
The game is a confluence of music, youth, wealth and the so-called urban culture.
The snub of Anthony and James is worth noting because it represents a last-gasp resistance, from coaches and some fans, of the NBA's relentless youth movement. Although the NBA may have needed Anthony and James for Friday night's game, James clearly felt he should have been playing in today's game.
After Friday night's game, James said, "I felt a little frustrated because I felt I was among the top 12 players."
Anthony expressed the same feeling. "When I sit down and really think about," he said, "I get a little ticked off. But I understand that it was a coaches' decision, and the coaches want who they want."
The coaches who didn't choose them are blind to the values that are at the core of a team game. Anthony and James have made their respective teams better. They have energized moribund franchises. Cleveland has gone from a wasteland to a park. Denver is fighting for a playoff spot in the rugged West.
"When you hear my name," Anthony said, "when you hear LeBron's name, the hype is going to come. It's just a matter of you staying grounded and staying focused and just staying humble."
James said the best thing about the season was the challenge of turning a franchise around. He had an interesting perspective on the hype that began surrounding him in high school.
"Pretty much we created the hype by us playing this game of basketball," he said. "We created it."
Flip Saunders, the Minnesota Timberwolves' coach, compared the disappointment of not making an All-Star team to playing in the Continental Basketball Association, where he used to coach.
Snubs can provide motivation.
"I've always said the player that plays in the CBA, then gets to the NBA, really appreciates it maybe a little bit more because they know what it's like to not be here," he said.
"Sometimes when you don't have something, when you do get it, it's something you do appreciate more.
"I'm sure that they'll look at it the same way," said Saunders, who is coaching the West's All-Stars.
"From a selfish standpoint, sure you'd like to see them here, but I'm glad we didn't have a situation where one of them made it and one of them didn't."
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