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All Star Reserves Selected, Anthony is In

Leading the league in scoring with 30.8 points per game and showing star quality in his fourth professional season, Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets has not enjoyed the entire league?s appreciation. His role in the December brawl between Nuggets and the New York Knicks players, which resulted in a harsh 15 game suspension without pay for Anthony, has also marked him as a son less favored by the league high offices. Melo was not voted by fans to start for the Western Conference team, nor was he picked by coaches as a reserve.

Finally, as a replacement for starter Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz, Anthony was invited to participate in the All Star game in Las Vegas, on February 18. Similar to Anthony in being called as an injury replacement was Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs, who have the league?s top record with 41-9, and currently on a 16 game winning streak, have had only one representative selected to go to Las Vegas, before Howard was called to replace Houston Rockets center Yao Ming.

Howard is averaging 19.6 points per game and 7.3 rebounds. Crowd favorite and four-time All Star Yao Ming was voted as a starter again this year, but has broken a bone in his right knee in December and will have to miss out on the event. For Anthony and Howard both this will be a first appearance in an All Star game, where both certainly deserve to be, and yet there selection involved some controversy or other.