This year fans had the option to simply vote for “front court” players for the NBA All-Star Game. They were not required to vote for one center, one power forward, and so on. Just “front court” players.
Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune points out an interesting outcome of that voting format for the 2014 squads:
No center was voted to either East or West team now that the designation is just "frontcourt" players
— Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) January 24, 2014
Of course that restriction was removed so that fans could truly vote for the five most deserving their five favorite players instead of having to vote for a center about whom nobody would be excited. It creates an interesting dynamic with the Eastern Conference team especially, as none of their three “front court” guys play much down on the blocks: Paul George, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony.
That isn’t the point of the All-Star Game, of course, so there’s no need to delve too far into the X’s and O’s of a typical NBA lineup.
There is one noteworthy name that comes to mind at the center position, though:
BTW, Dwight missed by less than 8,000 votes. Think the LA/Orlando backlash might have played a role?
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) January 24, 2014
Dwight Howard is having a superb season, averaging 18.3 PPG and 12.6 RPG in 44 contests. Beat out by two power forwards, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, this only confirms what we already know about Howard and the damage he did in terms of his likability the last number of seasons.