The only "Superstars" in the league are: Shaq Kobe Duncan Garnett Iverson McGrady Carter LeBron Ming Those are the only guys with CELEBRITY power, doesn't necessarily mean they had to take their team to the finals or win rings. Those are the guys that are world-famous and are known as a household name. If you're talking about accomplishments, then you need a different name to classify that. The above meaning of superstar is the only one that matters in America. The next tier of players are just "Stars" which include: Francis Wallace (Ben) Kidd Pierce etc.
Goodness. Steve isn't a superstar. And teams gear their defenses to stopping Yao now - does anybody really think he's a superstar? He's also a two time all-star! Face it, teams gear their defenses to stop the most dangerous threats on the other team. Does that mean that every team has at least one superstar? Pure foolishness. Steve doesn't even score well enough to be a superstar - and that's what he does best.
I would say out of that least the only household names are Kobe Bryand, Shaq, Yao Ming, and soon very soon Lebron James and thats it. This isnt the 80's anymore with Magic, Jordan, Bird, Kareem, Barkley, and maybe Ewing and Hakeem.
That's because the league is diluted and early outs are sitting on then bench "learning' the game. There's about 4 or 5 H.Schoolers alone that are "work in progress" players throughout the league. It dumbs down the league.
It's easy to tell superstars from stars. Just watch some TV. All super stars have commercials. Simple. Shaq, Kobe, Iverson, T-Mac, Yao, Garnet, Duncan. That's about IT.
You are right. Steve is the best player on the team now. However, look at his talents. What do you see in Steve's game that makes him fit in Van Gundy's style of defense-first and ball control/low turnover offense? If you think Van Gundy is going to change his coaching style, you should read the papers again when Van Gundy disagreed with Steve when Steve said that he was going to play how he wanted to play. Yao is at least a component who Van Gundy can utilize for both offense and defense who plays to his style.
Do you really believe he is a super star, given this year's performance? If you think so, I would see no reason that why Baron Davis, Bobby Jackson, Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, Andre Miller, ....... should not be called super star. And to answer your question, the all-star thing is just a fan thing. It doesn't tell that much about a player. Yao is starter over Shaq for two years in a row? But I doubt whether he deserves it now. The all-star thing tells you more about a player's popularity.
