Chris and Paul's All-Star Starter Votes

Credit:  NBA.com

It's that time of year again.  Paul and I probably spend too much time talking about All-Stars in general and, like Zach Lowe, probably take them too seriously but it’s a great way for us to recognize great play around the league.  I find the discussion around All-Star reserves more intriguing in general and Paul and I have spoken our mind about the disappointment we have with NBA fans based on how All-Star votes have been in the past.  As the fan voting comes to a close though, Paul and I cast our votes over the weekend via Twitter (they always say you can’t complain about the process unless you partake in it, right?).  

This year, we, like the NBA, thought we would utilize the power of Twitter.  For the NBA, #NBABallot has been an overall success.  It’s become the most popular way for people to vote, it’s given voice to communities in support of their favorite player (Kyle Lowry comes to mind), and the hashtag has become a representation of something within the basketball discourse community.  Because #NBABallot means something to you (and I bet if you’re reading this blog than it does), it was a success for the NBA.  

Paul and I tried to use 140 characters and the ability to include multimedia (whether it’s a link, an image, a GIF, Vine, or YouTube video) to make our case for our NBA All-Star starters.  Here’s what we came up with:

The Chicago Bulls Have a Bench

Photo Credit:  Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

The Chicago Bulls have a bench...but will they use it?

This is Tom Thibodeau’s fifth season as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls after coming over from the Boston Celtics.  Over the previous four seasons, the Bulls have had a tremendous amount of success, in general.   They’ve had either the number 1 or 2 team in defensive rating each of those seasons except 2012-13 when they were a lowly 6th.  

Over that time period though, they have struggled with injuries (Rose obviously, but Noah, Deng, Butler have all struggled with injuries over that time).  One of the biggest criticism’s many have had of coach Thibs, who has obviously done an amazing job otherwise, is that he rides his players a bit much. That was highlighted last season with the success the Spurs had by limiting minutes (and games played) for players throughout their roster.

2014-15 NBA Season Preview: Kobe

John Bazemore/AP

It’s impossible to discuss Kobe Bryant without intangibles dominating the conversation. As with any player of his stature and cultural significance, particularly in professional sports, his identity becomes indistinguishable from his legend, with the mythology often overshadowing the actual performance (see: Jeter, Derek). It can be reductive; when the idolatry distracts from the reality, and our over-reliance on the un-provable prevents us from appreciating the unique talent that originally inspired the legend (see: Chappelle, David). And sometimes, it can be apt, and the seemingly-empty phrases somehow make sense, touching on the unknown (see: Bryant, Kobe “Bean”).