Rosters For The 2008 NBA All-Star Game Has Been Revealed

2008 NBA All-Stars
Rosters for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, to be played Feb 17 in New Orleans. (x-starter; reserves were named Thursday):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Player, Pos.	Team
Chauncey Billups, G	Detroit
Chris Bosh, F	Toronto
Caron Butler, G	Washington
x-Kevin Garnett, F	Boston
Richard Hamilton, G	Detroit
x-Dwight Howard, F	Orlando
x-LeBron James, F	Cleveland
Antawn Jamison, F	Washington
Joe Johnson, G	Atlanta
x-Jason Kidd, G	New Jersey
Paul Pierce, F	Boston
x-Dwyane Wade, G	Miami
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Player	Team
x-Carmelo Anthony, F	Denver
Carlos Boozer, F	Utah
x-Kobe Bryant, G	LA Lakers
x-Tim Duncan, F	San Antonio
x-Allen Iverson, G	Denver
x-Yao Ming, C	Houston
Steve Nash, G	Phoenix
Dirk Nowitzki, F	Dallas
Chris Paul, G	New Orleans
Brandon Roy, G	Portland
Amare Stoudemire, F	Phoenix
David West, F	New Orleans

--Chris Paul and David West were picked for their first All-Star Game Thursday night, giving the hometown Hornets a pair of players for the event New Orleans will host next month.

--Boston will only send two of its Big Three to the Big Easy. Paul Pierce was voted in by Eastern Conference head coaches to join starter Kevin Garnett, but Ray Allen fell short.

--The Pistons' Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton are headed back for the third straight year.

--Toronto's Chris Bosh and Atlanta guard Joe Johnson were the other players picked for the East, which will be coached by Boston's Doc Rivers. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, the reigning NBA MVP, Utah's Carlos Boozer and Portland guard Brandon Roy were selected from the West.

--Missing out during the worst season of his career was Shaquille O'Neal, ending his streak of 14 consecutive All-Star selections. That tied the record held by Jerry West and Karl Malone.

--Garnett, LeBron James, Orlando's Dwight Howard, New Jersey's Jason Kidd and Miami's Dwyane Wade were voted by fans to start for the East. The West starters are Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan and Houston center Yao Ming.

--Predictions?? Well, from looking at these rosters, I really would have a hard time if I had to bet on this game. The Eastern and Western rosters are fully stacked with the top guys, but the combination of Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Paul Pierce, and Jason Kidd provide the speed, passing, and scoring edge over the Western players. For years I've heard the Western Conference has always been better. That statement doesn't have much weight to it anymore.

Tonight: Lakers vs Nuggets on ESPN

I hope everyone gets a chance to see this game tonight between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. How often is it that we get to see 3 of the greatest athletes compete on the same floor? We only get to see it 3-4 times a year now that Allen Iverson is on the Nuggets.

Allen Iverson is and has been one of the 5 best players in the league for a long time now. Here is a guy who barely stands 6 feet tall and carried his team, on his back, to the NBA Finals one year. Only to lose to to a guy who has been the best player in the league, unquestionably, for 4 years now; Kobe Bryant.

It's great when these two face off but now we get to up and coming superstar Carmelo Anthony. I shouldn't say 'Melo is up and coming, because he has arrived. He is already one of the top players in the NBA. He has a great jump shot and an incredibly fast first-step. If he can get his defense to the level that Iverson and Kobe play, he will be right up there with the elite in the league.

The last thing I want to point out about this game is the play of young center Andrew Bynum. Do not sleep on this young man. He is playing at a very high level, and still isn't old enough to drink alcohol. Here is a guy who plays the center the position the way it should be played. Back towards the basket, backing people down, blocking shots on defense, and catching alley-oop passes from his point guard.

So I encourage everyone tonight to sit in front of a TV, turn on ESPN, and enjoy a very exciting basketball game that invovles 2 first ballot Hall-of-Famers, 1 guy who is well on his way to being a Hall of Famer, and 1 guy who plays the center the position it should be played.

The line for this game is the Nuggets favored by 9 at home. Take the Lakers with this. The Nuggets may come out on top, but I don't see Kobe getting beat by 9 on national TV.