By now you've heard the news -- Paul Millsap (22 ppg / 10 rpg / 3 apg and 8 wins) is not on the All-Star Ballot. This Ballot is created by sports writers before the season even begins. It's a crap shoot. Right now some of the people who make the ballot are backtracking and suggesting that "THEY" were the lone dissenting voice in a group of people who were minimizing his potential success this season. Art Garcia, of NBA.com, wrote this. And now J.A. Adande offers this at ESPN. I'm sure soon enough everyone will write something similar. The point isn't leaving Millsap on or off. The point isn't even about Millsap making the All-Star team (which is entirely in his capable hands - if the Jazz are winning and he plays like he can play, the coaches will reward him after 3 million votes come in from 14 year olds texting their Lakers in the game). What is the point?
The point is that Paul Millsap doesn't care. I'm sure a little piece of him does, obviously; but have you seen this guy? The rest of him is solid granite stone that's been hardened over the years of people always over looking him. Greg Oden gets more press than Millsap -- despite Sap playing in almost 300 more games (playoffs and regular season combined) than the oft injured one. The media will never give Millsap a fair shake because someone always flashier will be around. (Fitting that he plays for the Jazz, and for Jerry Sloan)
Millsap is relishing the chance to start - and show the 'hatas' - what he can do after years of being seen only in limited minutes behind former All-Stars Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. This season is a celebration of what Thrillsap can do, and we've already seen quite a display of his game: crushing blocked shots, acrobatic finishes, solid midrange shooting, and even the clutch ability to hit both deep threes and offensive rebound putbacks with the clock running out.
He's a guy who thrives on being overlooked, like a number of his team mates. You know that Deron Williams is going to get him the rock a few extra times this week.
Millsap doesn't care -- but we fans should. The NBA is a global game, and despite what provincialistic xenophobes think, the Jazz have a significant following outside of Utah. People on both coasts (and the midwest) respect hard work. The Bloggers know Millsap is the real deal. It may not get him into the game, but we can still VOTE for Millsap.
Thanks to new technology consistently making things like paper ballots obsolete (don't get me started) you can vote online, or even via TEXT!