News / Sports
NBA All-Star Game Reserves Announced, Carmelo Anthony Left of Squad
The NBA All-Star Game reserves were announced earlier today and the league’s top scorer was left off the list. Carmelo Anthony, averaging 31.3 points per game, failed to make the Western Conference squad undoubtedly due to a 15-game suspension the star forward was involved in earlier this year.
While Anthony will be at home his teammate, Allen Iverson will be involved in the Feb. 18 game. Coming over from Philadelphia, where he had been a seven time starter for the Eastern Conference, Iverson picked up enough votes from head coaches to earn his eighth trip,
Joining Iverson on the Western Conference team will be a trio of Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion were all selected after leading the Suns to the second best record in the conference.
The team with the best record, the Dallas Mavericks, will only have one representative on the squad, Dirk Nowitzki.
Tony Parker will make the trip to Las Vegas as well. The San Antonio Spurs guard will join Tim Duncan who earned a starting spot in the fan vote. The leading scorer and rebounder for the Utah Jazz, Carlos Boozer, rounds out the Western Conference lineup.
Voting results for the starters was announced last Thursday with Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, and Yao Ming getting the nod.
NBA Commissioner David Stern will announce a replacement for both Ming and Boozer who are recovering from injuries.
The Eastern Conference reserves feature a pair of New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons. Both Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton were selected from the Pistons while Jason Kidd and Vince Carter will represent the Nets.
Jermaine O’Neal of the Indiana Pacers was selected by the Eastern Conference head coaches as was Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards. It will be the first trip to the All-Star Game for both Howard and Butler.
Eastern Conference starters are Lebron James, Gilbert Arenas, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Despite the snub, Carmelo Anthony still has a shot if Stern replaces Ming or Boozer with the Nugget.
