With the Blazers and Lakers playing tonight, now is a good time to compare two NBA players who were snubbed of an All-Star selection by the fans and coaches.
LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trailblazers is averaging 22 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks a game while shooting 49 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line. Aldridge’s numbers have gone up across the board and the numbers don’t lie, as Aldridge has been the most important player on the Trail Blazers this season.
When Brandon Roy required knee surgery in January, anyone who doesn’t reside in Oregon wrote off the Blazers as lottery bound.
Surprisingly, the Blazers have hovered around fifth and sixth place in the highly competitive Western Conference with Roy recovering from surgery.
The reason?
LaMarcus Aldridge’s evolution from second banana to one of the NBA’s elite big men.
Aldridge is the NBA’s reigning player of the month along with Dwight Howard, and he is eighth on NBA.com’s race to the MVP, four slots below the Black Mamba.
How Aldridge wasn’t an All-Star this year is one of the life’s great mysteries. Tim Duncan is averaging a career low in minutes, points and rebounds but made the team because he’s Tim Duncan. And Aldridge has done a much better job of carrying a cast of young role players compared to Blake Griffin, but Griffin made the team because the game was held in Los Angeles and he’s a highlight waiting to happen.
Rick Carlisle, head coach of the Mavericks, agrees that Aldridge should have been an All-Star.
“I want to go on record saying I voted for him,” Carlisle said. “I did and I don’t know how he didn’t make it. I really don’t. He’s had a great year. He’s been a monster both games we’ve played him. But, we hate seeing him and we hate playing against him because he’s so good.”
This season Aldridge has emerged as the centerpiece of the Blazers’ organization, and with the newly acquired Gerald Wallace and a Brandon Roy, who is a shadow of his former self, as his wingmen, the future of the Blazers looks promising.
Next: Lamar Odom
At the beginning of the year, Lamar Odom played like an All-Star taking full advantage of being in the starting five due to Bynum’s injury.
But since Andrew’s return, Odom has reverted back to being Coach Jackson’s isotope off the bench: a spark plug to score 20 plus points at times and the point forward Jackson uses to field three seven-footers at the same time at others.
The main argument against Odom being an All-Star is because his numbers aren’t impressive enough and he comes off the bench. Those two factors are a direct product of Odom’s selflessness. Realizing he was never Kobe’s Scottie Pippen, Odom has accepted his role as a bench player on a championship contender without a single complaint.
Considering Odom could be a starter for 95 percent of the teams around the league, the notion that Odom can’t be an All-Star because he’s a sixth man is invalid.
Odom isn’t an All-Star because of the role he plays on the Lakers doesn’t require him to play like one. When the Lakers have the Black Mamba, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum; Odom may not be an All-Star but he is the league’s best fourth option player in the league by far.
Lamar at his best was showcased in the Orlando game last week when he and Shannon Brown were able to extend the lead over the Magic in the third quarter with the Black Mamba, struggling on his hurt ankle, and the rest of the starters resting.
You may argue that if Odom was placed in Aldridge’s position, he’d be putting up similar numbers and be an unanimous All-Star every year. But that’s not true either.
Take a look at Lamar’s numbers this year: 14.4 points, 8.7 boards and 2.9 assists.
And compare that to Lamar’s numbers in 2004-2005 when the Lakers were a mediocre team that marginally missed the playoffs: 15.2 points, 8.1 boards and 3.7 assists.
Looking at Lamar’s career averages, you’ll notice a common trend quickly. He’s been as consistent as the sale of Apple products throughout his career. No matter what situation you put Lamar Odom in, he’ll put up 15, 9 and 4 (his career average). If you’re the Lakers, you’d much rather have Lamar contribute off the bench than as Kobe’s sidekick because Kobe+Lamar= first round exits to the Suns but Kobe+Lamar+Pau+Bynum=championships.
Aldridge and Odom know their respective roles and they fill it extremely well.
There is no doubt LaMarcus Aldridge will be an All-Star, if not next year, then the year after.
I honestly don’t think it matters if Lamar is an All-Star or not, just as it doesn’t matter if Kobe wins the regular season MVP. The 2000-01 Sixers squad won every regular season award there is to win: Iverson was the MVP, Aaron McKie was the Sixth Man of the Year, Dikembe Mutombo was the Defensive Player of the Year and Larry Brown was the Coach of the Year. But all those regular season accolades meant nothing when the Sixers were completely overwhelmed by the Shaq and Kobe led Lakers in the NBA Finals.
Odom expressed his disappointment earlier in the season in not being selected as an All Star:
“It is what it is,” said Odom. “It is what it is.”
Maybe Lamar was never meant to be an All-Star, but I don’t think the All-Star snub(s) will be on his mind if he gets to celebrate a three-peat in June.
All-Star or not, true Laker fans know that Lamar Odom has been the most consistent player on the Lakers this season. Yes, Kobe Bryant is the most important, and Bynum has been absolutely scintillating since the All-Star break, but throughout the year Odom’s contributions as a starter or a sixth man has been the most consistent out of all the members of the purple and gold.
Don’t believe me? Just check his numbers.