Little wonder tickets have plummeted. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s choice for injured Cleveland Cavaliers Forward Kevin Love with Carmelo Anthony has hit the brakes on the fast spinning intricacies of the league. Basically, the Commissioner added a player on a losing team to the All-Star list and the Mardi Gras isn’t solving much. Russell Westbrook’s triple double barrage and James Harden’s orchestra have roles in picking matters up.
However, this season’s basketball festivities have failed to pick up steam with fewer days to the big events. Zach LaVine’s injury induced withdrawal from the Slam Dunk Contest doused water on the fiery dunks he has put together in two straight years he competed in the contest.
Joel Embiid’s absence also takes major shine as the 7 foot 2 inch Center’s eccentric lifestyle has made him a fan favorite in his debut season. But none of the above mentioned situations come close to Silver’s handling of a situation involving two players who have been tipped to swap teams. Choosing Carmelo over hot exciting young studs like Kristaps Porzingis and Bradley Beal failed to fall in line with the new but the old; because Carmelo is old literally and figuratively.
The Sharpshooter is 33 years old and has been an All-Star 10 times and despite being in good form for the reeling Knicks, he was not selected by the amalgamation of fans, media personnel and player votes. Love got that honor for the first time since his trade from Minnesota two seasons ago in the wake of winning a title and finally settling in beside fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
Unfortunately, Love will not be able to play in his fourth All-Star Game due to a knee injury that has ruled him out for six weeks. Silver reacted with tried and tested Carmelo and fans have reacted by failing to turn up to purchase tickets. Per usatoday.com, ticket prices are selling at record low rates with the cheapest ticket pegged at $120. In last year’s event which was held in Toronto, Canada, the cheapest ticket was $389 and for comparison sake, New Orleans hosted the grand event a year before Toronto but tickets bottomed out at $135. A host of reasons can be attributed to the sharp fall in prices chief among the league’s decision to strip original host Charlotte off its hosting rights due to North Carolina’s controversial law on gender discrimination which forced the Big Easy to host for a second time in three years. The sight of Anthony is a stale section of the event that could have been taken up by Porzingis or Beal and that is talking exclusively for the Eastern Conference.
Over in the West, the list grows deeper as Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and CJ McCollum can easily fill in the spot. Beal and backcourt teammate John Wall have been outstanding this season after disappointing a year ago when Washington Wizards failed to make the playoffs. A coaching change that brought former Oklahoma City Thunder man Scott Brooks, started out slowly as Washington stumbled to two wins in ten games, has ended up with Beal having a career year and helping the team break out of its funk.
He should be rewarded for guiding the Wizards to third spot in the conference behind Cleveland and Boston. Shockingly all that has been ignored for Carmelo whose Knicks team is way down 12th in the standings. If playing on a losing team wasn’t one of the main issues in selections-aside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kemba Walker-then Brook Lopez certainly deserves a shot for his phenomenal form for the Brooklyn Nets.
Let’s just say Brook is part of the old bunch since he is a former All-Star and should be overlooked. If there is a players in the Big Apple who should be an All Star, that slot should be taken by the “Unicorn” Porzingis. Unlike Anthony, Porzingis is a fan favorite and has the chops to shoot like Carmelo and hang around the rim. For long time sports followers, a phenomenon known as voter fatigue can contribute to the fall of athletes particularly concerning honors and awards. Michael Jordan surely can relate to this after seeing his quest for a sixth MVP get derailed by Charles Barkley’s win after the former dominated the scene in the early 1990’s.
In the social media dominated era, titans like Carmelo and Dwayne Wade have had their faces splashed all over the place for so long a time that a slip in fortunes be it personal or team wise, is a major factor to nudge them out of the spotlight. Little wonder both failed to make the cut; Wade to be fair, could have made it on fan votes alone but the remaining sectors ensured that bid failed.
This is indicative of a change that has swept through Ghana, America but has been halted by Silver’s pick in Carmelo Anthony. He should have followed through.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@ YawMintYM on Twitter
