Tracy McGrady could be an All-Star starter…this year

As of 2008, the population of China surpassed 1.3 billion. Their sheer numbers along with their passion for Yao Ming (unarguably a national icon) has made Yao a starter in every All-Star game since he joined the NBA. Even as a rookie he was named the West’s starting center over Shaquille O’Neal, who was in the prime of his career.

This year, with Yao is injured and out for the entire season and left off of the All-Star ballot altogether. this being the case, one would expect that this aforementioned “China effect” would not play a role in this year’s voting. Oh, how naive we all must have been. With Yao out, the Chinese population has turned their sights on voting in any Houston Rocket on the ballot – even if it means Tracy McGrady…who has not appeared in a game this season. With the first update of the current All-Star ballot status revealed today, we found out that McGrady is second only behind Kobe Bryant for the West’s guard spot. The top two vote-getters at each position would serve as All-Star starters for their conference.

Oh, but they didn’t stop there. While it won’t have any major impact, Aaron Brooks (also of Yao’s Houston Rockets) had already received 131,167 votes. “So what?” you might ask. Well, it just so happens that those 131,167 votes are more than much more prominent West guards like Chauncey Billups, Brandon Roy and Deron Williams. It’s a travesty.

This leads into the age-old debate of whether the fans should be solely responsible for choosing the All-Star starters. Sure, it’s a showcase for the fans so I suppose they should have some say in who they want to see. However it’s always sad to see players voted in who are clearly undeserving of receiving such a prestigious honor. Thank goodness that the reserves are decided on coaches from their respective conferences, because they have gameplanned and experienced firsthand who the true All-Stars are.