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Millsap left off All-Star ballot.

https://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/art_garcia/11/18/asg-ballot-millsap/index.html
Millsap, my man, we whiffed in leaving you off the ballot

Posted Nov 18 2010 3:04PM

Paul Millsap, I'm taking this opportunity to issue a public apology. This isn't made on the behest of some PR firm or through a bunch of handlers -- as if I had any. It's from the heart. And this apology needs to be made today, right now, as the 2011 NBA All-Star Ballot is revealed.

All that said ... Millsap, buddy, I hope you make it. For the last 32 days, I've regretted my decision not to be more firm, more passionate, more argumentative about getting you on the ballot. I toed the company line, even though I knew I was wrong. I sat in on a conference call back on Oct. 19 and tried to state my case that you should be on the ballot.
Paul, I let you down.

I didn't stand up to the rest of the panel that selects the names that go on the ballot. But how am I expected to debate ESPN.com's J.A. Adande? The guy is on Around the Horn. Marc Spears? C'mon, those dudes at Yahoo! know everything.
The Toronto Star's highly respected Doug Smith? Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated? Helloooo.

I listened and interjected where I could, trying to convince the group to give Millsap has rightful place on the ballot. I suggested placing his Utah teammate Al Jefferson at center, allowing Millsap space to swim in the forward pool.
The belief from at least one of the esteemed panelists was that Mehmet Okur was on the verge of return and needed to be included among Western Conference centers.

No way, I thought. Okur, as far as I can tell, isn't close to coming back from a torn Achilles suffered in the playoffs. Utah officials are privately bracing for post-Christmas when it comes to seeing Okur in uniform.

Millsap was in for a big year. I just knew it. The Jazz let a 20-10 man (Carlos Boozer) walk to open up room for this four-year pro out of Louisiana Tech. Utah knows something about power forwards out of La. Tech. But since he's not Karl Malone, the overriding opinion was Millsap wasn't ready to be one of the West's 24 best forwards.

Well, he's averaging 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. He's racked up five double-doubles. He pulverized Miami for a career-high 46 points last week. His scoring rate checks in 19th in the league going into today.

Twenty-five of the top 26 scorers are on the ballot. Millsap is not.

Seventeen of the top 19 rebounders made our list. Millsap did not.

I made a feeble Millsap push, but at least I wasn't completely alone. "I went hard for Millsap," Adande recalled. "I had to give in to the crowd."

As for the rest of the ballot, I don't have many complaints. Picking the names is a handwringing process paring down some lists or coming up with enough names for others. Each team had to be represented at least three times, further complicating matters. Votes and re-votes were taken to come to a consensus on 24 guards and forwards, and 12 centers for each conference, for 120 players.

Mavericks guard Jason Terry, currently averaging 19.3 points, was a tough cut. Looking back, I'm not sure why we included Mario Chalmers, other than being a member of the Heat. A few nods were given more on reputation than actual chances of making the All-Star team. Grant Hill of the Suns comes to mind, as does Lakers guard Derek Fisher.

I hope our little group can go on despite the Millsap misstep. (TNT's Marv Albert participated in the selection process via email, so I'm leaving him off the hook.) In the end, though, I have only myself to blame. It takes a big man to admit he was wrong, even if you're only 5-foot-9, and I've learned my lesson.

If I'm ever given the honor to take part in the ballot process again, I'm going to yell from the mountain top if I have to. Or at least from my cell phone. I owe it to you, Paul.
Click to expand...
 
Couple things

-Ballots were made during the pre-season, I guess they though Okur would be back sooner
-There is a write-in spot, although due to our small market Millstat wasn't going to be a starter
-Due to this news creating some hubbub, if Stat keeps his stats up, I have a good feeling the coaches will select him.
 
https://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/21836/missing-millsap-inside-the-ballot-battle

“If you see Paul Millsap, speak well of me.”

That was my parting message to my fellow All-Star ballot selectors as we concluded our discussion of the Western Conference forward nominees on our conference call on Oct 19. I’d tried my best to get Millsap on the ballot. I figured he’d flourish with the additional minutes coming his way now that Carlos Boozer left Utah to go to Chicago. I pushed and pushed for him.

But sometimes we get boxed in. We can only pick 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers from each conference and we must nominate at least three players from each team. And some of the other media members on the panel thought Millsap’s numbers would diminish once Mehmet Okur came back from injuries. Their final argument: it was, after all, Paul Millsap. He’d never averaged more than 13.5 points or 9.5 rebounds in a season. Those numbers worked just fine for the Jazz but didn’t scream “All-Star!”

So we left him off. We put Carl Landry on in order to get our third Sacramento King. Ron Artest hasn’t put up big numbers for the Lakers, but he didn’t play a big role in their championship run…and besides, don’t you like the possibility of Artest in the All-Star game in Los Angeles?

Then Millsap started doing big things. And in the midst of his 46-point breakout against Miami I texted a fellow said “Man, y’all shoulda listened to me on that Paul Millsapp All-Star call.”

Millsap was averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds and shooting 60 percent at the time. Now he’s at 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 58 percent shooting…and doesn’t appear on the All-Star ballot released Thursday.

That’s what happens when you have to pick the nominees in October. As a panelist texted me yesterday, “Even Millsap couldn’t predict his production.”

This was my first time on the panel of media members. It took a lot of roster reviewing, depth chart analyzing and pre-season game box score-reading to prepare for the conference call, but the call itself went smoother than I expected, save for my Millsap filibuster.

If I had to do it over again, I’d replace Trevor Ariza with Millsap. I e-mailed the NBA’s ballot coordinator the day after the Miami game to request an adjustment, but he told me it was too late. The process of printing the ballots had already begun.

Now would I expect fans to vote Millsap into the starting lineup ahead of, say, Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki? No. But the fans – and more importantly, Millsap – at least deserve to have that option.

At least the coaches will have their chance to add him to the reserves. I’m guessing there will be less resistance on that call.
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Silly NBA.

Shoulda been Sap in place of Jefferson in the forwards ballot. And Jefferson at center, his position mostly anyway, in place of undeserving Okur. Simples, pimples.
 
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