Josh Smith Says Politics are behind his All Star Snub

Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith was not elected to this year’s NBA all star game and he is not happy about that. The fans vote for the starters and the coaches’ vote determines the reserves.

So as you would guess there is a lot of lobbying and politicking going on especially among coaches. Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle reportedly lobbied for Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki made the team despite having a down year and he even said himself he did not deserve to go to the game.

Smith told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that politics are behind his all star snub.

“I guess I don’t know the right people or kiss enough [butt].”

“You’ve got to factor in there is a lot of politics involved in the All-Star selection,” Smith said Friday. “Once you get that it’s really about politics, then nothing really surprises you. I call it ‘Nothing But Associates,’ NBA. It’s all who you know.”

“I can’t really point a finger and blame anybody because, at the end of the day, when you leave it up to certain people that still have ties to their agents, [and] players in this game today probably [are] just putting in a bid over the phone, or however they do it,” he said. “You have to factor that in.”

Right now Smith and the Hawks are the 4th best team in the Eastern Conference at 18-9 so it is not like Smith is playing on a bad team. The Hawks are doing this without Al Horford also.

For the season Smith is averaging 15.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.4 steals while shooting 46.7 percent from the field.

Of the reserves I think there are 3 players that Smith could have made the team over. They are Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng, Philadelphia 76ers forward Andre Iguodala and Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce.

For the season Iguodala is only averaging 12.9 points and 6.7 rebounds. While Deng is averaging 15.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. Smith has more assists, blocks and steals than Deng also. Pierce is averaging 18.1 points but that is his worst average since his rookie season. He is getting up there in age and not the player he used to be. Maybe it’s time to get some fresh blood into the game.

I agree with Smith that the All Star Game is all politics but what are you doing to do that is the way it has always been. There is nothing really to change that. Does it really matter anyways since no one cares about the All Star Game?

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Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith