Players play harder in practice than the All-Star game. Maybe he should never practice either. . The people that vote that he shouldn't play overreact way too much to the All-Star game.
I voted no, but the more I think about it... yes. If he doesn't play because of his back, once again he's admitting to himself and everyone else that his back is holding him back. A lot of what is going on with is back and his game has been mental this season. I don't want him reverting back into the mindset of playing "not to get hurt". He even admitted himself that a lot of it earlier in the season was just in his head.
he should opt out of this game, if he somehow tweaks his back goofing around it will be hard to forgive him. really him playing in the all star game is very selfish.
practice is more riskier than all-star game, so all of you that voted are saying tmac shouldn't practice?
How is it selfish? Fans voted for him and would like to see him play. He's giving the public what it wants. That's not selfish at all. And, as has been repeated several times in this thread, he does not have the option of skipping the game. He was voted into the starting lineup, and so he must play unless something (injury or illness) prevents him from playing. Charles Barkley tried to skip the 1991 game, and was threatened with a heavy fine and suspension if he followed through on his threat.
You're probably thinking about baseball, where pitchers often asked not to be used because they have a start coming up, or had started a game just prior to the AS Game. Players are not allowed to skip the NBA All Star unless they actually are injured.
If you saw the interview with him last night on tnt he even said that he would love to give his spot up to steve nash who he thinks is having an even better year this year than his last two mvp seasons, but it would be a slap in the face of his fans if he didnt. the only player i can remember getting hurt in an asg game was brad miller and that was because he tried to play some defense on shaq or someone that resulted in having his foot being stepped on. the game is fun and get competitive but i dont ever remember seeing a season-ending injury occur at one. everoyne just has fun. he even admited that he injury isnt as bad as he thought it was and that it was more of a mental block than anything. i for one now tend to believe him (i didnt completely believe him in his preseason claims) after seeing how he has played since going to see patterson. 10-4 in the games he has played in since he has come back (excluding the phoenix L) with some very impressive wins and even in the losses, 2 were OT, one was a final minute game in his first game back and the other dallas where he was amazing but everyone else didnt show besides he needs to get back that MVP trophy he was ROBBED of last year. (seriously when is the last time you see the hometown favorite get blatantly fouled in the last seconds and nothing is said? even james admitted it, everyone knew it but it seems the officials and the league wanted the game to end on a high note for james)
T-Mac will play and should play in the AS game. He should definitely be okay for the first three quarters, when it's just for the fun of it, but come fourth quarter...then we should be worried. However I highly doubt he's gonna hurt himself. He's not stupid, he knows he doesn't want to risk aggravating his back for a somewhat meaningless game. I'm keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that he will do his infamous "off the glass alley-oop dunk"!
