One of the leagues we compete in had its annual All-Star game this past weekend. For the 3rd consecutive year, I sent no one. For the third consecutive year, I've had to explain that decision.
I don't like what All-Star games have come to represent. For as long as I can remember (and my quick Google search confirms it - NBA All-Star Scores), defense is optional. But aren't these players supposed to be the best of the best of the best players the game has to offer? Championship teams attribute their titles to their ability to defend, yet in the game of the best, there's none to be had. There's minimal team play as it turns into one-on-one with 8 spectators each possession. I vividly remember a healthy Dwight Howard, a premier shot blocker that year, watching and failing to rotate over in help defense as a member of the West took the ball to the rim. The NFL All-Star game was such a joke that the league considered not even having it anymore. I have a hard enough time trying to convince players to play defense to let them play in a game where it really is an optional facet of the game.
Another reason is just because of my philosophy as a coach. I demand a lot from my entire roster. Everyone has a job to do, and I expect all of them to do it. Some guys are scorers, some are rebounders, defenders, and the like. When all the guys play their parts, we play well. When someone overdoes it or doesn't fill their role, we look a complete mess. So in a system like that, how do you determine who is eligible to be an all-star? Do we work on all facets of the game in practice? Absolutely. But when you deal with young players, you have to make an effort to make sure that the kids are placed in positions to maximize their strengths, limit their failures as a result of their weaknesses, so that they will continue to work on those things and grow. I also preach all season long to play as a team, put the team above the individual, work together because we are the sum of our parts, etc. It's fitting that we are the called the "Wolfpack" because that is just how a pack of wolves thinks. To go an entire season talking about that - preaching, demanding, and expecting team work - and then to select one or two individuals as all-stars feels dirty. Add that to the fact that you are telling a 10 or 11-year old, who has worked all season long to fill his role, earn his time, build his confidence, and his coach's trust, that he was not selected as an all star but someone else was. Thanks, but I don't want to deal with that. Or to the kid you've selected - he'll take that to mean that he's got the green light to score at all times, even when it's a terrible shot decision - because he's an all-star. Again, thanks, but no thanks.
This season only further justifies my beliefs. We struggled through so much this season, but the team has really started to come together, roles are getting filled, and we are playing great basketball AS A TEAM. After all the struggles, frustrations, and low points, we still have a legitimate chance to play for the league championship. That opportunity for the team means more to me than a couple of individual opportunities to play in an all-star game, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
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