If you are relating this to the Rockets you need to be asking us What will make a player from Houston become a superstar to the national media? There is no real clear answer to that question but alot of it has to do with endorsements through brands like Nike, Addidas, etc. Those companys are who they are because they are marketing giants and know how to get their products "players" face time in the media. I am more interested in what will happen to Kevin Martin's superstar status in Asia once he starts playing with Yao. Kevin Martin has been the guy in the NBA for awhile that puts up All Star numbers but played on a crappy team in a smaller market. While Martin will never get a one hour special on ESPN telling the world where he is going the next year, he should have major exposure as the best player on Yao Mings team. Tracy McGrady almost started on the all star team last year because of the Yao Ming factor and he wasnt even playing. Just imagine what kind of attention from the Chinese media he will get putting up all star number next to Yao Ming???
.....? Tmac no longer plays for Houston and you're still bringing him up? Damn man get over it. I mean did he ran over your dog or bang your wife for you to have this hate thing against him? Comon man just get over it already.
Melo has yet to make it to the first team on the All-NBA team. it's not really his fault that he's always been behind either Lebron, Duncan, KG, Dirk and now Durant (all superstar forwards either now or once upon a time). or is it? ultimately, the onus is on him to outshine those guys or make his team better relative to those guys and he hasn't. to be the best, you have to beat out the best. in addition to multiple 1st team selections, all of those guys were also league MVPs except Durant who is bound to get one sooner or later. Webber also played with great forwards throughout his entire career (Karl Malone, Duncan, KG, Dirk, Grant Hill, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Shawn Kemp, not to mention lesser ones like Sheed, McDyes before his knee injury, Derrick Coleman, Dale Davis, Antonio Davis), many of them in their prime. yet he still managed to get a first team selection. only one, but his overall career and importance to his team (Kings) was that of a superstar. remember when he was a free agent and they had everyone in Arco arena with those signs to get Chris to stay? that was Lebron like. non superstars, and no other King in the history of the franchise got that kind of fan treatment. Yao (and T-Mac) is more of a homer pick. i think he never did get the benefit of superstar calls along with bad officiating. he was effectively cheated of 3 or 4 fouls (non-calls) per game effectively costing him 5-7 points per game, lowering his field goal percentage and PER and raising his FG attempts per game (fouled shots aren't counted as FG attempts). on the defensive end, he was cheated about a block (or a charge; he really shouldn't be taking charges though) per game and called for a foul instead. not to mention all those bogus offensive fouls that limited his aggressiveness on both sides of the court. if called like a superstar, i think his stats would have been closer to 30+ ppg (on less FG attempts per game and .600+% shooting), 10+ rpg and 3+ bpg in his prime. unequivocal first team numbers. so i guess it could be argued that he was not a superstar because he didn't get the superstar treatment from the refs, but i think he was just discriminated against (size, race, who knows ) for whatever reason. IMO he should have gotten the first team selection over Shaq (06) and Amare (07) the years that they got it instead. Chris Paul had two outstanding years, and actually made the first team once. so two great years out of five, an excellent sophomore year and the last year was mostly great while he was healthy. Yao had 4 great years out of 7, although he was injured for a big portion of 3 of those years. Paul will likely return to his first team form, although i don't see him displacing Kobe or Wade for that honor in the next couple of years, especially on a stinky team like the Hornets, and possibly being challenged by Roy, Rose, Williams and Curry after Kobe and Wade start breaking down. in any case, i don't think he is a clear top 5 player and could be argued to just miss the top 10. 1st tier (current superstars) Lebron Durant Kobe Howard Wade 2nd tier Carmelo Dirk Roy Paul Duncan Gasol Stoudamire Williams Nash Bosh
A superstar is a player that a franchise can build a legitimate title contender around. There are roughly 10 of them in the NBA right now.
if Yao had the ball it was difficult to stop him. he was a superstar. hopefully he will still be next season. we managed to give DHoward, lbj and kobe problems and win the games against them. doesnt make them any less of a superstar. but yeah All-Star, Superstar, etc. it's become about media hype.
Nah.... media makes superstars elite talents are elite talents... popularity gets you superstar and allstar tag
Example Chris Bosh elite PF talent, multiple Allstar, star within the NBA but no superstar Yao Ming global ambassador, pioneer, people's favorite in the US and China, popular and known worldwide therefore superstar, multiple Allstar One of the best centers, flawed in game, near elite production
Did you really label Gary Payton, Chris Paul, and Alonzo Mourning as borderline superstars? WTF especially at Gary Payton, he was the definition of a superstar during his prime.
