NBA.com has a live All-Star blog set up for T-Mac and his antics, most notably a photo with Wayne Newton (who looks like a cardboard cutout), teasing the players in the Celeb game and a pre-All-Star bash featuring Diddy (seriously?). Yao Central has a little ditty on Mac's celebrity snubbing by media event handlers. But of course, how can the wholesome D.L. Hughley funny that is T-Mac (if you've never heard him in interviews, the guy's got jokes) compare with the endearing quirks of the Tracy Morgan-esque stylings of Gilbie Arenas?
Mr. Hibachi had 100 Agent Zero jerseys made to give out to fans. But ol' Gil also wants to sneak an Agent Zero jersey into the All-Star game, except he publicly blogs about it... on NBA.com. So much for the element of surprise.
NBA.com announced their All-Star starters yesterday. Yao, of course, led the West in votes, but won't be playing. T-Mac, however, will. Mac held off A.I. Western edition for the second guard spot in the Western Conference. Kobe, Garnett and Duncan round out the rest of the Western Conference starters.
Not one player from the league's two winningest records was voted a starter? Is there precendent for that? This is how the Toronto Sun puts the absence of Nash. Touchy Canadiens. Nobody snubbed Nashy, he's just not one of those guys. We're pretty certain he likes the two MVP trophies much better.
In the East, Lebron led all vote-getters (but gives no love to Yao). Gilbie beats out VC and he gives all the credit to AI moving West: “That was a blessing in disguise. It potentially opened years of getting in because of him going out West. He ate up all of the votes, along with Dwyane Wade. Now all I had to do is catch Vince Carter, and that is what I did."
It's all about exposure and Gilbie's publicity team, if not just himself, has been working overtime to bring "Gilbie" to the public... with the NBA blog and Tuesdays with Morrie or Ahmad or whatever, he's finally reaching the viewer at home with all kinds of crazy. I can't help thinking Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock in just a few more years... but replace the paranoid insecurity-laden faux-gangsterism with some paranoid inferiority-laden eccentricity and you have the whimsical delusions we've all grown to love as Gilbert-isms. We voted "Gilbie" and he deserves it. But nobody deserves the All-Star bid more than Chris Bosh... except Dwight Howard. Yao Central has more on the irony of being Shaq.
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Just before the Rockets @ Spurs game Wednesday, the San Antonio Express took the liberty of going Shakespearean on T-Mac. And the more you read it, as a Houston Rockets fan, the more it started making disheartening sense. But then Houston beat San Antonio, T-Mac dropped 37 and for now, all is right with the world.
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