I agree, but it's worth noting that Charles could still be bitter over the whole Yao/donkey incident from a year ago. There's a strong case to be made for Yao deserving to start. Shaq's been out for weeks and Brad Miller has benefitted from the defense focusing on Bibby, Peja, Bobby Jackson, and Doug Christie(last night against the Rockets being a perfect example). Yao's had to deal with double and triple teams all season long, has gotten little respect from the refs, and has been lighting it up over the last few weeks. Now Steve Francis on the other hand has no business being anywhere near All-Star Weekend other than maybe the dunk contest. I kinda hope he does the honorable thing and gives up his starting job to Sam Cassell. Vince Carter did it last year with MJ.
Man, the hour I spent filling out 200 paper ballots this year at the Rockets games was time well spent.
And the point is - Why is Houston as mediocre as they are with 2 All Star Starters on the team? The team should be near the top of the West instead of being stuck in the middle of the pack.
paper ballots were distributed in USA and Canada only. Yao is more favored by domestic fans than by chinese fans.
He's not playing center, so he really shouldn't start there anyway. He has more boards, assists per game.... but here's the main stat: Kings 31-12
Never too impressed with B.Miller's game. He only edges out in assits and board by a slight margin. Like you say he's not even a center. Can he create his own shots? Does he bang down low? Does kings expect him to open up things for them in the middle. I dont think Yao should start, because of Shaq, but please dont compare Yao with B.Miller.
This is a publicity contest. Don't expect too much for someone playing in the cow town to be voted in. Lucky for Webber the past few seasons, since he was an allstar while playing for other teams before joining the Queens.
MJ was at the end of his hall of fame career (for the thrid time) but yeah, sam should get in atleast as a reserve. But how much better is 21, 7, and 3 than 16, 6, and 6? And also, Sam definitely has the better team around him. Now for Yao, he definitely desever to start every way you spin it, like Francis he has to carry a mediocre team. and have been more consistent and played more games than Shaq.
damn those billion chinese flying over from china and going into our movie theatres and arenas and stuffing the ballots full of Yao votes! how dare they use their nationalism to swing the vote! next person to say that Yao won because of the billion chinese voting for him online will be called an idiot to their face.
LOL. A) Cassell is not MJ and B) Cassell wouldn't do the same for him and you know it. Honorable, lol. It's an all star game. If anything, it would be a slap in the face to the fans if Steve didn't play. Fans would think "wtf?!?!? I voted for him and he won't play? Cocky SOB. Eff him."
And the situation isn't the same JORDAN was in his last season and his last All-star game. Vince was hesitant about even giving up his spot for Jordan
Not really. In the closest race of this year’s voting, Houston’s Yao Ming (1,484,531) narrowly edged the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal (1,453,286) for the West's starting center position. While O’Neal received more electronic votes from fans around the world, Yao defeated O’Neal by outpacing him on paper ballots that were distributed in-arena, at movie theatres and at retail stores where balloting was available in the United States and Canada.
Yao made the AS game his first year; LeBron didn't. So is Yao the more popular player? Shouldn't he be getting as much in endorsements, then?
Yao deserves it more than shaq, he's played all season, and shaq shouldnt even qualify cause he's been out for most of the season. Now that Yao has made the Allstar again, he better drop 50 points in the Rookie Challenge, and 25 in the Allstar Game. ANd i hope Flip plays Yao more minutes than Shaq. I was pissed that Phil played shaq more than Yao last year.
Lebron isn't as popular as people think he is, not even close to Yao. Vince Carter still remain the most popular player. Also about the voting...I thought i heard last year, Yao also beat SHaq in the state ballots as well. So he's more popular here than abroad. This just show the people don't like O'neal's game, all he does it bully people and people hated his attitude...I know i am. What a shame that O'neal beat Yao on the online ballots and not at his home state??? Who would have thunk?? I would think before the voting start, people would say Oneal would surely win if he beats Yao online. So, that's kind of shocking how much people support Yao over O'neal in the state and not abroad.
I dont think Lebron makes more money than Yao.. thats pretty crazy to think. He may have a bigger deal from Nike but Yao's deal was pretty big too. Throw in all the other avenues Yao is involved in and try to think again. (Apple/ Gatorade/ Reebok/ Pepsi) etc etc. well anyways im glad they are both starting and hope Yao and SF have a strong game. Then it carries over to the regular season and they both end strong. J
