NBA: Who actually deserves an All-Star spot?

It’s time to take a look at the landscape of the 2015 NBA All-Star Game and make some rulings on who is worthy and who is unworthy.

To put it lightly, the voting process — and even the event itself — of the NBA All-Star Game is completely and totally f**ked up.

I understand the appeal in “giving the fans the power” to vote for their favorite players. I’m also not ignorant of the fact that the game is just an alley-oop drill with all flash and zero defense. But perhaps people would actually give a crap about the All-Star Game if there were a little more substance to it.

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I’m not suggesting using the All-Star Game to determine home-court advantage for the playoffs (like the MLB does, for example), but wouldn’t more people pay attention if the most deserving players got in instead of just the biggest names?

A dangerous line of thinking, I know. But the All-Star Game has become some sort of lifetime achievement award/popularity contest that is somehow used to define players’ careers instead of All-NBA selections. Don’t believe me? Just consider that Goran Dragic was snubbed for Tony Parker last season, or that Joe Johnson is somehow a seven-time All-Star.

As much as people dismiss the All-Star Game as meaningless spectacle, we still — for some reason — attribute All-Star appearances to players’ careers as a measuring stick before bringing up All-NBA selections.

So assuming we as NBA fans actually want the All-Star Game to mean something, this is an attempt to break down who actually deserves the designation of “All-Star” so far this season. The Kobe Bryant fans may troll and the accusations of “hater!” are sure to carry the day, but consider me an NBA voice crying out in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way for the All-Star Game.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the voting process, each team gets 12 players. Two guards and three frontcourt players are voted into the starting lineup by the fans, while the remaining bench players — two guards, three frontcourt players and two wildcards — are voted in by the NBA’s head coaches.

Let’s start with the East.

Next: The Undeserving - East