Iverson an All-Star? (Yawn.) Why not?

I searched for a reason to feel bad about it, mad about it, somehow as an NBA fan (from mid-April on, of course) cheated by it, and couldn't discover one.

I react far more to the dog receiving bedspread privileges during winter and biased coverage of analysts on The Mtn., which must be days from changing its name to The State of Utah Television Network.

Allen Iverson has been voted to start the All-Star Game for the Eastern Conference.

Stop us when you hear something of consequence.

Why care if a meaningless game has meaningless starters?

The NBA had its annual midseason showcase at the Thomas & Mack Center in 2007, and I remember two things about it -- Eva Longoria sitting courtside (not that there's anything wrong with that) and some loon standing and screaming his noggin off at the sight of Carrot Top, which might not have been all that amazing if the guy cheering wasn't a local reporter.

Point being, the game always has been as much exhibition as your next Cactus League split-squad snoozer. Even more so, considering guys in spring training are fighting for jobs. The only thing NBA players compete at in an All-Star Game is to see which one avoids guarding someone the longest.

First one to 150 usually wins.

There never will be a game that includes fan voting where the most deserving players all are included. You can't mandate the head overrules the heart in such selections, so why such fuss and protest when someone whose statistics don't warrant inclusion is chosen over those who do?

Baseball used to own an All-Star evening that ranked among a given year's most compelling sports events. Ted Williams. Stan Musial. Pete Rose. The snapshots are plenty. But then the world stopped for a brief second, and someone upstairs played a cruel joke on us by placing Bud Selig in the commissioner's office, and the All-Star Game became a spectacle of bloated rosters and the laughable insinuation that home-field advantage in the World Series is enough to make the game relevant.

Not with more pitchers than fans it isn't.

The Pro Bowl? Think about it. How injured would Tom Brady be if the Patriots were playing in the AFC Championship Game today?

Iverson should give up his spot to Rajon Rondo or Joe Johnson as much as Kobe Bryant should hope the Lakers are denied home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Iverson shouldn't give up a thing.

Iverson being voted a starter after playing just 19 games for two teams this season is no more ridiculous than Tracy McGrady nearly getting a starting spot in the West, despite playing just 45 minutes for a Houston team that granted him an indefinite release while it seeks to trade him. The guy is on a milk carton and almost was voted a starter.

It is what it is. Always has been. Deron Williams played for the gold medal-winning team in Beijing and yet never has made an All-Star team. Bryant was voted a starter in 1998 and hadn't started a game for the Lakers that season.

Fans can vote daily throughout the process. They can vote at games, online, via their cell phones, from widget. Iverson received 1.2 million votes. We just think they came from the same five people.

But a league that has been more fan friendly than not and saw each of its teams cut ticket prices this year in response to the economic climate shouldn't worry about those who annually admonish a flawed process.

The average NBA salary will be close to $5.9 million next year, meaning most players good enough to make an All-Star team aren't going to starve without those contract incentives kicking in, anyway. It's why a player's Hall of Fame resume never should include the number of All-Star Games he made. The entire experience means little, or hadn't you noticed Shannon Brown is competing in this year's dunk contest?

I've never been a big Iverson fan. I've never cared one way or the other. He might be the best and quickest player standing 6 feet or shorter to take any basketball court. He might have been voted in as the latest candidate for a "lifetime achievement" starting role. He might receive a thundering ovation Feb. 14 in Arlington, Texas, or just slightly louder than if Carrot Top walked by media row. He might not.

And perhaps one day, everyone will understand how meaningless a popularity contest is.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He also can be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on "The Sports Scribes" on KDWN-AM (720) and www.kdwn.com.