West joins Paul as All-Star reserve; Scott will coach
Thursday, January 31, 2008
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
Everyone has known for weeks that Chris Paul would be named an All-Star reserve by the Western Conference coaches. When youre considered a serious MVP candidate as CP has been youre a virtual lock to make it. But I have to be honest with you: I didnt think Hornets power forward David West was going to be picked.
Dont get me wrong, its not that I thought he didnt deserve the honor. Its just that after looking over countless All-Star reserve predictions that have been published lately, I noticed that Wests name wasnt showing up consistently. With so many big names in this conference, I figured that the 6-foot-9 Xavier (Ohio) product would have to wait at least one more year, even though New Orleans is near the top of the standings.
It came as a pleasant surprise Thursday to learn that he had made the team. TNT reporter Jim Huber and a video crew from the network made a trip to the New Orleans Arena today to interview West, who definitely seemed a bit taken aback by his All-Star recognition.
Huber told West that TNTs Charles Barkley calls West the most underrated player in the NBA, to which West basically responded that he is cool with receiving little attention. In some ways, West is a throwback kind of player he genuinely seems to just want to play basketball. Some of the other stuff that often comes with NBA stardom whether its TV commercials or endorsement deals doesnt seem to excite him much.
The Hornets received more good news Thursday when Byron Scott locked up the head-coaching post of the West All-Stars, as a result of Dallas' defeat in Boston.
If youd like to congratulate West and Paul on their first All-Star Game invites, as well as Scott on his big honor, please leave a comment in this blog. Well try to use as many of the comments as possible in an upcoming GameTime program page.