2012 NBA All-Star Roster Thoughts

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game roster is going to get revealed and the All-Star Game starters have already been voted on. When TNT starts revealing the players that made the team this year on Thursday (Feb. 2), hopefully the fans and the league itself doesn't make as many mistakes as in the past. The biggest mistake last year was leaving off LaMarcus Aldridge, one of the best power forwards in the NBA, but hopefully that gets fixed this year.

When it comes to the Western Conference, the most deserving starters are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kyle Lowry of the Houston Rockets, Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves. That's two guards, a center and two forwards that have not just put up great numbers, but certainlyhave the talent. It's more likely that Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers gets voted as a starter, but that doesn't mean he is more deserving.

The Eastern Conference is a tougher nut to crack, especially because one of the players putting up the best numbers (Carmelo Anthony) is doing so for a New York Knicks team that has been terrible. Should a player get rewarded with starting an All-Star Game if his team isn't even in playoff contention? I guess if that's what the fans want it is what will happen, but Anthony shouldn't get classified as one of the most-deserving players in the East.

If we are talking about the most-deserving players are Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics as one of the guards and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls as the other guard. Those two players have been spectacular this season and I don't think thatDwyane Wade deserves to start the game again. When it comes to the forwards, I would go with LeBron James of the Miami Heat and Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. I could get convinced that Chris Bosh deserves it as well with the numbers that he has put up so far. Center is definitely Dwight Howard with what he has done for the Orlando Magic, and the main reason he may still play for that team is that the All-Star Game is in Florida.

Those are the starters I would like to see in the game, but there are a number of other players that should not get over-looked off the bench. Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks, Ryan Anderson of Orlando, Kevin Martin of the Rockets and DaniloGallinari of the Denver Nuggets are also well-deserving players.

Sources:

NBA Web Site

NBA Statistics