Cuz It's All Business!

Lin should be an All-Star this weekend cuz it's all business!

The NBA All-Star Weekend is the league's premier showcase of the year. It's when all of the games biggest talents are on stage for the world to see. The weekend is filled with other exciting events that include the Dunk Contest, the Rookie/Sophomore Game, the 3 Point Shoot Out and the Alumni Game. Not to mention all of the celebrity parties that will be held just for added measure. Orlando will truly be where dreams come true for real this weekend.

I'm as hyped as the next person to see it all play out. However, why isn't the most popular guy in the NBA not on the Eastern Conference All-Star team? The guy that has taken the world by storm and I mean that literally. Jeremy Lin is like the Beatles right now bruh! He should have been added to the starting line up in light of what he's done over the past three weeks. Throw the rules out of the window bruh!

Yeah, I know that he wasn't on the All-Star ballot at the beginning of the season which included sixty players from each conference: 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers for the East and West. They had only played 20 games by the time the East and West All-Stars were named. Lin should however be an exception to the rule because of his worldwide popularity. He's taken the Asian market by storm with his Taiwanese decent and that's worth millions of dollars to the league. It is called professional basketball for a reason bruh!

Let's keep it real the "Linsanity" phenomenon is the hottest ticket in sports right now and quite honestly he deserves to be a starter on the Eastern Conference team for that reason. The All-Star Game is merely a popularity contest and who’s more popular than Lin right now. Since the starters are selected by the fans he could easily be a starter because everybody wants to see Jeremy Lin play. If Magic Johnson could be added to the West All-Star team and win the MVP in 1992 without even being in the league. Then surely Jeremy Lin could be added to the roster after going on an 8 game rock star shooting spree because the NBA can make ridiculous paper off of him. There are millions of dollars to be made in the Asian television market by putting him on the floor. This has nothing to do with who's better or who deserves to play. It's about who's worth more money to the league.

According to Elias Sports Bureau only four players since the NBA-ABA merger have scored more points in their first eight career starts than Lin’s 200. Those players are Bernard King, Shaquille O’Neal, Brandon Jennings and the greatest of player ever to lace them up, Michael Jordan. Also Lin has more points 200 and assists 76 during that period of time than some of the best point guards in history. He has more than Isiah Thomas 184-51, Magic Johnson 147-57 and John Stockton 80-82. I only give you the stats to give you an understanding of why he's so popular to this point. Look, I'm not trying to put him in the Hall of Fame. I'm just saying that for the first half of this season he's clearly a fan favorite and should be an All-Star.

 Magic retired in November of '91 just as the season was about to start due to his diagnosis of HIV. So he wasn't even in the league when David Stern stepped in and allowed him to play in the All-Star Game and that had to have upset a lot of players. Not because he was HIV positive but because he wasn't even in the league and somebody missed an opportunity to play because of it. Yeah boyz said they were cool with it but the cat that got left off of the team wasn't I'll bet you that. If you're retired then you're retired bruh! You can't show up and bum rush some body's spot and act like it was OK just because the commissioner and your superstar homeboys in the league were cool with it.

At least Jeremy Lin is in the league and bustin' heads for the world to see right now. Magic wasn't in the league when the rules were bent for him to play. By no means am I comparing Lin to Magic other than why the rules can be ignored. Quit trippin’ Stern and put this kid on the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a starter and make this money. Not only do the faithful NBA fans want to see it but the Asian market will put major money behind the decision to put him of the floor. Do you realize how much the Asian markets would pay for Ad space overseas?

After all, the Dunk Contest is going to be garbage again this year because the best dunkers in the game refuse to participate unlike they did when guys like Jordan, Dominique and Clyde would get down. Save the drama bruh because the contest last year had one dunk and Blake Griffin jumped over the hood of a KIA. Not the top of it but the hood. How difficult was that? It was like jumping over 5 four year olds. Like my man Patrick Henry once said, "Give me liberty or give me death!" Well give me Linsanity or give me nothing on All-Star Weekend.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Hit me up on Twitter: @jaygravesreport