WTF Lin's a Harvard grad, Me thinks he can speak for himself, don't need others (fan or not) to put words into his mouth!
I think he should decline if he gets voted in, he'll get a lot of respect from the other players and the fan base in general. By to appease the fans who DID vote him in, I think he should take part in the 3 pointer contest!!!!
Lin fans, please don't vote for Jeremy. If Jeremy is voted to play in the all star game it will create a huge controversy and could have a negative effect on Jeremy the rest of the year. If you really care about Jeremy, you won't put him in this uncomfortable position. I'm sure all NBA players would like to be an All Star, but only if they have played at an all star level. Some of you may feel that the All Star is nothing more than a popularity contest, but that isn't what it should be. Many people still vote for players that they feel are most deserving based on their play, whether they are a fan of that player or not. I am not a fan of Lebron James, but I think he should be an all star based on his play. Lin fans, please don't create an unnecessary backlash against Jeremy Lin. Your love for Jeremy Lin could result in him being the most disliked player in the NBA.
Didn't Rocket fans complain about not having enough publicity? And now when we get publicity we don't want it? Seems really silly to me. With the games being in Houston I definitely want to see as many Rocket players participate as possible in some way. In my opinion, Parsons will be in the rookie vs sophmore game, Lin will likely be in the skills competition & Harden will be a reserve guard. Win, win, win. Nonetheless, if people want to vote for Lin to be in the games let them vote. Some people think it is a popularity contest so let them vote for who they like best. Others think it should be merit based so vote for who you think is most deserving. To each his own. Either way, the games are trivial in the grand scheme of things. Just a few thoughts.
^^ I agree, though I couldn't care less about the All-Star games. I do see a lot of Asian girls (very young) voting for Jeremy on Twitter. I know that's not the extent of his fans, but I think they're the type to vote everyday and maybe they think it's like the MTV video awards or People's Choice awards or something. I think a real basketball fan of Lin would not want that kind of pressure placed on him. He is very self conscious about his fame and popularity -- looked decidedly uncomfortable on his Asia tour. He has said many times he just wants to play without the spotlight.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but quite frankly these people who use the concepts of "deserve" and "popularity" in conjunction are simply not that bright. Although I do find the irony delicious that this is all on TV, and ESPN of all places. If we were to go by merit instead of popular sensation, most of the ESPN sports analysts don't deserve to be sports analysts. The All Star game is a show, like SportsCenter. Those who deserve to be in the All Star game are the players the fans want to see. Now we return to your regular nonsensical whining about how Lin doesn't deserve to be popular.
But the double standard is funny. Few people care that Nash is getting votes when he hasn't even played yet, or that Rubio is getting votes & he just got off of injury. Lin is actually out there on the court. Rocket fans wanted to be relevant & wanted to be in the news & now we are. You can't cry for publicity & when you get it start being nit-picky. I was actually going to come to Houston for the games but something came up so I won' even be able to travel or watch from home. I also haven't voted for anybody to be in the games since I was a child & likely won't vote this year. And like a few people said, I don't see Lin getting more votes than CP3 & coaches won't choose him as a reserve. A lot of worry over something that really isn't going to come to fruition. Just a few thoughts.
*cough* Stephen A Smith *cough cough* Skip Bayless *cough* Chris Broussard *cough cough* Oh man I don't feel so good! Must be coming down with something
Probably not if they're "injured" and since Lin still has swelling in his knees, I'm sure Rockets medical staff could come up with something if Lin really wanted to just decline. He might have to show up in a suit though and wave to the crowd.
Publicity? I don't give a damn about publicity. All I care about are wins and losses. I just want to see the team develop and the team improve. I guess I do care about publicity in one way. When the publicity is bad publicity that could create problems for the player, I don't want to see that. I want a player that is focused on playing good basketball and not having to deal with a lot of off the court distractions.
Yeah, it's interesting, I guess Lin already has a tonne of backlash from the Linsanity hype that people are sort of looking for excuses to call him overhyped and overrated and this is the perfect avenue. The problem is Lin has had too much exposure and people seem to equate overexposure with meaning he's the next MJ. As a result he gets a lot of, in my opinion, unwarranted criticism from many people out there and on this board, for example those who are quick to say "Jeremy Lin is a Joke" or whatever. With labels like "an asian gimmick" "overrated" and "overhyped", if he starts the all-star game he's going to become despised by both fans and other players. In fact, we can see this already happening, as other point guards have said they're going to destroy Lin, former teammates have said Jeremy's very good and the general populous are comparing Lin to Tebow. He's needs some time away from the spotlight or he needs to play like Cp3, either way, given that he hasn't played like Cp3 this year, the immense backlash will come if he's voted in. The general public associate the all-star game with elite players, which Lin isn't at the moment. Nash and Rubio don't have that kind of exposure, so most will say it's a joke, but it'll be forgotten pretty quick. Lin is a hot topic and the articles about it will be endless. I hope this post makes sense it's 8 am here and I slept yet.
I agree with this 100% You can see what happened to LeBron's game after his "decision," his mindset and play negatively changed, because of those off-court distractions.
lol Negative publicity. My take Let's list he pros and cons of Lin being in the all star game Pros- Gets to be in the all star game- Which he'll probably be passive and just let Kobe or other ball hogs handle the ball anyways. ' Cons- Backlash from media - More negative articles on Lin. Backlash from fans - More heckling in opponents arenas and more lohs on forums. Backlash from peers - Lets say he starts over Cp3. What would happen if they play against each other during the season? I'm sure Cp3 and other players would go at Lin even harder out of jealousy. The All star game is a popularity contest sure, but most players that get in do put up star-like numbers except for a very few.