This may be the only NBA All Star article you read that doesn’t slam the fan vote. It’s actually nice to have a majority say in who the best players in the league are. It’s not all about stats, there are players that carry an aura. Kobe Bryant is one of them. Sure, his shooting was even worse than Harry at the end of Dumb and Dumber…

…but he achieved something that few other players could have: he made a pathetic team relevant. People tuned in to watch the Lakers just to see him play. I know because I was one of them. And anyway, he’s injured so a replacement will be called in Kobe’s selection is basically just a bonus one. So what, big deal. The only person put out by it is James Harden, who as MVP front-runner, somehow didn’t make it in as a starter in the West. Except that he will eventually.

Let’s actually praise the fans for what they got right. Ok, Melo needn’t be a starter but he’s got a case at least. But Kyle Lowry and John Wall are starting guards! Perfect. The two best Gs in the East and two guys who have slid under the radar the last few years. John Wall at least was a top pick and has a max deal, but I’m not sure too many people realise quite how good he is. Pau’s not a starter but he deserves to be there and LeBron, well, he hasn’t always been himself this season, but when he’s felt it it’s been just like the good old days. A couple months slump doesn’t mean he’s done.

As for the West, who can argue with Steph Curry, Marc Gasol, Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin? Nobody who ain’t a liar. LaMarcus Aldridge should be there, probably ahead of Blake but the difference isn’t that huge and Blake has Star Power. That means something. Round of applause to the fans, y’all did well.

So having said that, let’s throw all that away and start from scratch. Here are my, The Wildcard’s, own personal NBA All Star selections.

THE EASTERN CONFERENCE

Starters

G – John Wall (Washington Wizards)

G – Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)

F/C – LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)

F/C – Paul Millsap (Atlanta Hawks)

F/C – Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks)

Bench

G – Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls)

G – Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)

F/C – Chris Bosh (Miami Heat)

F/C – Pau Gasol (Chicago Bulls)

F/C – Carmelo Anthony (NY Knicks)

W – Jeff Teague (Atlanta Hawks)

W – Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks)

John Wall and Kyle Lowry need no explanations to anybody who’s followed them this season. LeBron James has been a step down from his usual self and he’s missed a few games, but a step down from legendarily good is still comfortably at All Star level. Then I’ve given big boosts to Paul Millsap an Al Horford. They’ve both been great for a while and sneaking under the radar, this season they get their due. Give Hot ‘Lanta it’s turn.

Jimmy Butler is a given. The improvements in his game this season are insane, he should really be starting but there are a couple other guys in the way and he has slipped off a little bit recently. He’ll be a unanimous sixth man.

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have kept Miami afloat in the post-LeBron era. The phrase ‘Toronto Bosh’ has become a thing again while Wade’s back scoring well over 20 points a game despite the same old injury concerns. Melo gets the nod even with his terrible team since there aren’t many player can score like him. He’s not responsible (entirely) for the mess around him. Being the NBA’s fifth leading scorer on a team still with single digit wins is pretty impressive.

Pau Gasol drops to the bench on this team, but he deserves to be in. After labouring in the wilderness of what the Lakers have become, he’s looked like his old self again in Chicago (although he’s taken a bit away from Joakim Noah’s game). Pau leads the league with 28 double-doubles and he and Marc will become the first pair of brothers to play the same All Star game since Tom and Dick Van Arsdale in 1971.

Commiserations to Kyrie Irving. Fresh off a 55 point game, if he’d shown that kind of dominance more often (like during LBJ’s layoff when his team practically begged him to) then he’d be there. But 11 threes in a game isn’t as flash as shooting them all season at 53%. Hence Kyle Korver and his historically good shooting get in ahead of him. If Korver breaks that NBA record, as he’s on pace to do, then we’re gonna look back at this season in 10 years wondering how the hell he wasn’t an All Star. Thus he should be. His teammate Jeff Teague gets in too, the Hawks deserve all four guys to be there.

As far as snubs go, Brandon Jennings and Brandon Knight deserve a mention. As does Kemba Walker (though he was never quite in contention). Nikola Vucevic was mighty close, Al Jefferson and Marcin Gortat too. Derrick Rose hasn’t been All Star good but he’s getting back there and Kevin Love, well, the stats aren’t bad but there’s something missing. And sorry to Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. The Josh Smith Era is still holding you back.

THE WESTERN CONFERENCE

Starters

G – Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors)

G – James Harden (Houston Rockets)

F/C – LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trailblazers)

F/C – Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)

F/C – Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies)

Bench

G – Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)

G – Damian Lillard (Portland Trailblazers)

F/C – Blake Griffin (LA Clippers)

F/C – DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings)

F/C – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)

W – Chris Paul (LA Clippers)

W – Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)

James Harden should be starting, so should (and will be) his closest rival for the MVP award, Steph Curry. That’s the end of that conversation.

Anthony Davis is one of three men averaging at least 20 and 10 this season. The other two are Boogie Cousins and LaMarcus Aldridge. Boogie slips onto the bench because he’s been hurt and his team ain’t that flash, and Aldridge gets promoted to the starters ahead of Blake Griffin. Davis is The Next Guy, that’s clear when you see him play. He’s doing things that players as young as he shouldn’t be capable of – like leading the league comfortably in blocks (2.88 per game) at only 21.

Boogie can do things of wonder too, but his turnovers are way up. He’s on the up, he’ll sort it out. In the meantime he can settle for a bench spot. Oh, and as for Aldridge? If you have to ask you don’t know. The man’s a beast, one-handed or two.

Marc Gasol finally gets some deserved credit for years of top play. But this gig isn’t about years of work, it’s about a single season and this one has seen him shoot more, rebound more, assist more and most of all score more. He’s almost five points above his career average with 18.9 ppg, you just can’t stop this guy when he posts up.

Klay Thompson proved this week why he deserves to be here. If there were doubt that he’d earned this already (he had), then there aren’t any more. Damian Lillard is one of the best guys to possibly have in the final few minutes of the game. As a third year player, it’s like he’s already mastered the point guard trope of dishing it around and getting everybody else their shots for three quarters and then taking over in the fourth.

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have been hard done by among fans and critics alike. The Clippers are back playing super well as of these last few weeks and their struggles at the start of the season were due to the lack of depth, not the quality of their stars. Even still, both have picked things up a notch. Blake is one of the best all-round guys (averaging 22.8p/7.6r/5.1a per game) in the game, and CP3 is just the archetypal point guard. He’s only a small push away from a fifth season averaging at least 10 assist a game.

Tim Duncan. A slightly sentimental one. His minutes are down around 30 a night, he misses a few games now and then and his scoring is far from dominant. Yet even at 38 years old he’s been the glue that’s kept an injury-plagued Spurs side afloat. The fact that respected people are talking up his shot at Defensive Player of the Year – at age THIRTY-EIGHT! – is a stunning reflection of a man who’ll go down as possibly the greatest player to ever play his position. Guts to you, Dwight Howard, but you’ve played nine games fewer than Dunc and haven’t quite done enough to cover those losses.

And for the final spot, in a Conference where this team could probably be filled twice without too many complaints, goes to Russell Westbrook. Not Kevin Durant. Durant’s just missed too many games, and while Rusty’s had his share of sideline lurkers too, when he’s been on the court he’s been absolutely manic in his workrate. Westbrook dominates a game with pure athleticism and aggression like nobody else can – and in every possible way. When he turns it on, he’s unstoppable. The single most exciting player in the NBA, no kidding.

Mike Conley is the man who would have taken Westbrook’s place. I was desperate to fit him in but there just wasn’t room. For what it’s worth, he’d definitely have made the Eastern team. Zach Randolph should be in there too but again there are just so many good players in the West! DeAndre Jordan came close, Rudy Gay too. Plus the Mavericks trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler may all have made it in another year. In this particular year? None of them do.