All the injuries have finally made the NBA All-Star rosters all right

Jan 21, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) against New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 96-80. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Eastern Conference won the first NBA All-Star game easily. Played in the legendary Boston Garden, 13-time All-Star and Boston Celtics captain Bob Cousy led his team to victory. The East had to contend with George Mikan — the best player of all time to that point — but it helped that Cousy’s Celtics teammate, Ed Macauley, outplayed everyone on the court to take home game MVP honors.

It may seem surprising that Cousy and Macauley were the only two Boston players that year. But this was before Bill Russell showed up to turn the Celtics into the best dynasty in sports history.

But just because there weren’t an outsized number of Cs representing the team on their home court, that doesn’t mean the squad was particularly varied. Of the 11 players named to that East team, eight came from either the Celtics, New York Knicks, or Philadelphia Warriors. The Western Conference All-Star side was no more diverse, featuring three Minnesota Lakers, two Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and two Indianapolis Olympians.

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The math at the time essentially guaranteed this outcome, though.

In 1951, there were only 11 teams in the NBA, so of course many of the 22 total All-Stars that season were bound to come from the same franchises.

Fast forward to 2015, and the NBA has 30 teams. As the league has grown, it has expanded the All-Star roster — by adding one extra player per conference.

In summation: There are now 19 more teams, and two more All-Stars each year.

The imbalance is silly, and the league’s decision to not expand the rosters further as the league has grown means that it has become increasingly difficult to be an All-Star over the years. This is a disservice to the players of today, and the league would be much better off if it pushed the rosters to 15 players per conference.

There are 30 teams, let’s have 30 All-Stars.

It almost makes too much sense.

The NBA All-Star Game is a time to celebrate the game and market its best players. There is no downside to sewing together a few more jerseys and having a few more guys hanging out on the bench while the pointless exhibition game is played.

Not to take anything away from legends like Bob Pettit and Paul Arizin, who made the All-Star team every season of their career, but that is something that in this day and age even LeBron James, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant have failed to achieve.

While nobody is feeling too sorry for LeBron (who missed the team in only his rookie year), Duncan (missed three times in 18 years) or Kobe (missed two in 19 years), other players are losing legacy points by missing out.

Look at Mike Conley, who didn’t make the team this year and may never get a selection. Look at Kyle Lowry who just got in this year for the first time. Look at DeMarcus Cousins, who only made it this year because of an injury to one of the players ahead of him.

Look at the fate of Lamar Odom.

There are 30 teams, let’s have 30 All-Stars. It almost makes too much sense. The NBA All-Star Game is a time to celebrate the game and market its best players. There is no downside to sewing together a few more jerseys.

Odom never made an All-Star team and — in 20 years, to those who never watched him play — he will be better remembered for an alleged substance abuse problem that derailed the twilight of his career. People won’t remember that he was dynamic, multi-talented point forward who changed the way we look at forwards and helped his teams win multiple championships.

Those who do remember how good Odom was at his peak will have a tough time explaining his value to the next generation of fans. They won’t be able to go to his Basketball-Reference page and, say, “Look, here are the two All-Star nods that prove how valued he was.” Why? Because there were just never quite enough spots for him to make the All-Star team in a Western Conference that was loaded with front-court Hall of Famers.

Or look at Mark Jackson.

He is fourth on the all-time assist leaderboard and routinely led teams deep into the playoffs. But he made just one All-Star team despite finishing in the top five in assists per game four times during his career. He even ended John Stockton’s nine-year reign on top by leading the league in assists in 1996-97. And Jackson didn’t even get an invite that year.

Jackson remains on the outside looking in at the Hall of Fame. He is a divisive figure for such an honor and belongs on the bubble. But if the All-Star roster size was 15 throughout his career and he had, say, three All-Star nods instead of just one, then his resume would be that much stronger.

Sure, the All-Star Game is just a midseason exhibition that was long ago overshadowed by the dunk contest and 3-point shootout. But the number of All-Star teams a player makes does matter in how they are remembered.

Marc Gasol and Joakim Noah have only made two All-Star teams. Tyson Chandler has only made it once. And the same goes for Andrei Kirilenko, Metta World Peace, Gerald Wallace, Steve Smith, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Jamal Mashburn, Kenny Anderson, and Reggie Lewis.

Anyone who watched those players knows that they had a big impact on their teams at their peaks. But history won’t have a lot of evidence to support those claims.

When we remember 2015, one of the worst things about this season will be the injuries.

Kobe Bryant, Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, and Dwyane Wade are all hurt. And none of them will play in the All-Star Game.

This is terrible, but it has forced the NBA to add more players to the team. The East now has 13 players on the team, and the West is up to 15.

Because of the injury plague, DeMarcus Cousins, Damian Lillard, and Kyle Korver can now call themselves All-Stars for the first times in their careers. These aren’t cheap selections. They are all deserving, as is future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, who was also named as a replacement and will enter rare air with his 12th selection.

It is regrettable that it took injuries for the West team to get 15 All-Stars. But the NBA should learn from this and make sure that every All-Star team — in both conferences — has 15 players from now on.

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