The following quote is exactly the reason why the NBA needs to adopt the NHL’s idea of having a fantasy draft for the players involved in the all-star. It comes from John Wall, last year’s rookie of the year runner-up who was selected 11th overall in the rookie-sophomore draft.
“It’s a joke to me. If they think there are 11 guys better than me, then that’s their decision. But I know what I think in my mind and all I can do is go out there and play basketball the way I know how to play.â€
No hockey player would ever step out and say something like that. They don’t really care where they’re taken and even if they’re upset, they’d probably just make a joke about it.
Not basketball players, they take slights like this personally and now I can’t wait to see Wall try to prove everyone wrong during the rookie-sophomore game. There already is a minimal amount of defence played in that ‘showcase’ anyway, but I can see Wall trying to show up everybody – including current sensation and No. 3 pick in the game’s fantasy draft, Jeremy Lin.
One can only hope that having the fantasy draft, conducted by Shaq and Charles Barkley on Thursday, for this game is just a test to see if it would work for the actual all-star game. If it is a test, I will say right now that it’s going to pass with flying colours.
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