All Star Voting

The 2012 NBA All-Star Roster was released, and the NBA is trying to make the fans feel more involved with the league, but I don’t think it’s helping out with All-Star Weekend.  When the fans are allowed to vote, the whole voting process turns into a popularity contest, and the most talented players do not even get to play in the game in some scenarios.  For the years that Yao Ming was popular, he was voted in solely by the amount of foreign fans voting for him.  Even in years where he was injured and not playing in a significant amount of games, he was still voted into the All-Star Game.  I understand that the weekend is meant for the fans, but giving them full control of who plays in the game is unnecessary.  Also, the game needs to be played for a reason.  The game is predictable every year, and sometimes it is almost annoying to watch.  The game will be full of alley-oops and very little defense.  This style of play is exciting, but after 6 alley-oops and 15 dunks, it actually gets boring.  I’d like to see the NBA All-Star Game played for home court advantage in the NBA Finals.  Everyone knows how important home court advantage is, and it would provide a great incentive for the players to actual attempt to win the game.  It would be a great start to a complete renovation of All-Star Weekend which is greatly needed.  The monetary incentive provided to the players is not enough to create a competitive atmosphere.  Something needs to be changed.