As Brian Windhorst points out in his excellent blog today...Lebron got hosed.
...This was dispatched to me on April 14 by the NBA office as part of my All-NBA team vote:
"You have been chosen by the National Basketball Association to serve on a committee to vote for the All-NBA Team for the 2006-07 season. Please vote for the player at the position that he plays regularly. You can vote for five players on each of the three All-NBA teams. No ties may be awarded."...
...There were 129 ballots out there, therefore there must be 129 first-team votes for center. However, if you combine Amare Stoudemire (36), Yao Ming (38), Dwight Howard (1), Shaquille O'Neal (3, one of them mine), and Marcus Camby (2) you come up with 80 votes. Where are the other 49 votes? I'll tell you, in Tim Duncan's totals. And perhaps a few in Dirk Nowitzki. Which is why, in a nutshell, LeBron James was left off the first team...
...OK, well Stoudemire got 36 first-place votes and, says the release, 494 overall points. This is mathematically impossible. See, 36 first-place votes X 5 points each = 180 points. Then let's just assume Stoudemire was second on every other ballot (which is impossible, but anyway) so say he's got 93 second-place votes. That's 93 second-place votes X 3 points each = 279. Add up the points: 180 + 279 = 459. 459 is the max he can have. The 494 points reported, though, is exactly the same as LeBron's total. Which seems a bit odd/fishy. But Stoudemire doesn't have to out vote LeBron for the team, just the other centers....
...OK, well Stoudemire got 36 first-place votes and, says the release, 494 overall points. This is mathematically impossible. See, 36 first-place votes X 5 points each = 180 points. Then let's just assume Stoudemire was second on every other ballot (which is impossible, but anyway) so say he's got 93 second-place votes. That's 93 second-place votes X 3 points each = 279. Add up the points: 180 + 279 = 459. 459 is the max he can have. The 494 points reported, though, is exactly the same as LeBron's total. Which seems a bit odd/fishy. But Stoudemire doesn't have to out vote LeBron for the team, just the other centers....