On the Backburner: NBA Cliques Exposed

The NHL recently announced that it will change its all-star game format to increase fan & player interest. Next Friday, three captains for each team will be drafting their teammates in a video game style fantasy draft. It will be televised on Versus at 7pm. I'll be honest - I'm the type of person that will tune in on Friday but still won't watch the game. I think the draft is must-see-TV, even though hockey players generally seem cordial to one another & there's little drama amongst stars in the sport.



My very first reaction when hearing this news had nothing to do with hockey. I immediately thought: How amazing would an NBA all-star game fantasy draft be? This comes on the heels of a great article by the Bear-hating Sports Guy, discussing all the drama surrounding next month's NBA all-star game. Let's look into the reasons why this idea would be awesome in The Association.

There's no doubt there are two cliques in the NBA: The 2008 Olympics clique & the 2010 Worlds crew. It just so happens the two rosters are littered with all-stars. The 2008 Olympics clique included Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh. Also on that team: Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, etc, etc, but these players have been described as "outliers" who weren't accepted in LeBron's camp. Essentially, they did their own thing, like Kobe probably hanging out with premiership celebrities, Kidd hanging with the coaching staff, etc. The inner-clique has been described through sources (i.e. text conversations with Becker) as the "Ego" clique. This crew partied hard in Beijing, didn't look coaches in the eye, and wore designer Yankee caps at the cafeteria (not confirmed). Most of this cliquey behavior was documented from the Yahoo! Sports investigative staff at the time. Important to note: Whatever they didn't document is pure speculation, so my credibility as a writer is zilch.

Then, 2010 rolled around, and every single one of these players declined invitations to represent our country in the high-intensity Worlds competition. Fortunately, this gave the country a chance to look at another wave of rising stars, such as Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, and Stephen Curry. This crew was also well documented throughout the summer; described as humble and gracious. Pretty much everything said about them was positive. My sources speculate that they ordered room service and had video game parties.


Thus we have a divide. We have a crop of young stars who collude to be together and have "F%@& the world" WWE-style bashes, and another crop of even younger stars who see this buddy buddy behavior and decide to stray from it. So, as we at Pro Basket-blog see it, a fantasy-style NBA all-star draft has been set in stone for a long, long time.

The captains of the "Ego Squad", would of course, be LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh.

The captains of "Team Humble" would be Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups, and Paul Pierce.

The first pick goes to the Ego Squad, as predetermined by Worldwide Wes. His plan is to put Derrick Rose with the big three of Miami, but "Ego Squad" emphatically declines. They reach out to Kobe, but he wants no part of the big 3 and starts an Eli Manning style pissy-fit, which leaves the Egos with Carmelo Anthony. Kobe goes to Team Humble. Again, William Wesley pleads Rose's case to LeBron, with David Stern even stepping in to demand Rose be taken, but LeBron takes Chris Paul. Eventually, the rosters shape up to mirror the last two national teams:

Ego Squad:
PG Chris Paul
PG Rajon Rondo (David Stern rule banning a Rose/Rondo squad)
SG Dwayne Wade
SF Carmelo Anthony
SF LeBron James
PF Chris Bosh
PF Amare Stoudemire
C Dwight Howard

(after round 8, the ego squad refuses to draft another player, as they have reached the outer-limits of their clique size & playing time expectations)

Team Humble:
PG Derrick Rose
PG Russell Westbrook
SG Kobe Bryant
SG Deron Williams
SG Manu Ginobili
SF Kevin Durant
SF Paul Pierce
SF Rudy Gay
PF Dirk Nowitzki
PF Blake Griffin
C Kevin Love
C Tim Duncan

(Here, you can sub any worthy NBA candidate for this 12 man team).

So there you have it. Will the NBA adopt this system someday? Depending on the NHL's success, it's a possibility. I am confident that the results would look eerie similar to these lineups based on what we know about these superstars. Oh, and as long as this guy is running the league like Jimmy Hoffa, it remains a definite possibility.

Shawn, Pro Basket-blog guest contributor
Follow my NBA thoughts on twitter: @SFGore