Well, some things never change. As fans we nearly always get nearly all the right players in nearly all the right spots for an all-star game.

Carmelo Anthony is left wondering why he didn’t make it either as a starter (fan vote) or a reserve (coaches vote). He might make it because Yao Ming is hobbled and Carlos Boozer has an ouchie.

To answer his question he might consider that even though he sports the league’s highest scoring average, he missed 15 games because he punched an opponent, part of a fracas that made us all shake our heads and wonder why the hell we should even care.

Of course when fans vote for all stars there is always a chance a player who is either over-the-hill or out for the season will be a starter. Shaq — although partying this week as the Super Bowl is in Miami — will miss over 30 games and still be a starter.

At least David Stern has the good sense not to have the game’s outcome determine home court in the NBA Finals. That bit of stupidity is the exclusive bastion of Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig.

Of the 10 starters only two, Gilbert Arenas of Washington and Chris Bosh of Toronto play on the one of the six teams leading their divisions. The fans snubbed the Dallas Mavericks, with the NBAs best record and the Phoenix Suns, which has the second best. The coaches reconciled the oversight naming the Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki, and three Suns as reserves.