Jeremy Lin: All-Star Snub

With Joe Johnson being scratched from the All-Star game with an injury, the Celtics Rajon Rondo has been named to the team.

It's hard to argue that Rondo didn't deserve to make the team. He's second in the NBA with 9.5 assists per game. He also averages 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

The point guard has certainly been one of the best players in the Eastern Conference this season, but he should not have been chosen as Johnson's replacement.

Jeremy Lin was the clear-cut choice.

The NBA missed an enormous opportunity here. Linsanity has not only been the biggest story of the NBA season, it's probably the biggest story the entire sports world has seen in years.

Lin would have brought a big level of excitement to the game. He has boosted the ratings for Knicks games since he started playing significant minutes.

Sunday's Mavericks-Knicks game averaged 10.3 percent of New York area homes, which was the best ever for an ABC game in the New York market. The Knicks matchup with the Hornets on Feb. 17th was the best rating on MSG for a Knicks game since Michael Jordan's first game back from retirement in 2005.

The NBA should do whatever it can to increase viewership for the All-Star game. The league has risen in popularity ever since LeBron James' Decision last year and Linsanity has taken things to a whole new level.

The All-Star game is a showcase of the NBA's best stars. It's important for the league that people see the best it has to offer. Lin would have drawn a lot more casual fans to the game than Rondo.

The game is bound to lose a lot of viewers because of the Academy Awards. The Oscars, which is always one of the most watched television shows of the year, begins just an hour after the All-Star game is scheduled to tip off.

The Oscars will most certainly take away viewers from the game and the NBA should take measure to combat this.

Most importantly, the All-Star game is for the fans. It's not about the players or the teams. It is a game that is played to entertain the people who have watched the players all season long.

It is an exhibition. The All-Star game doesn't determine home-field advantage like it does in baseball. It is not about letting players with the best statistics play in one game.

It is supposed to be fun.

Who's more fun right now than Jeremy Lin?

Lin has only started 10 games for the Knicks, but that shouldn't matter. Even if Lin wasn't putting up impressive numbers, he still should have been selected to the game if that's what the fans want.

Carmelo Anthony clearly hasn't been playing at an All-Star level this year. He's shooting less than 40 percent from the field on the season, and has played only 24 games. He doesn't even qualify to be among the statistical leaders in the NBA because he has missed so much time.

Still, Anthony will be suiting up for the Eastern Conference on Sunday night.

If the fans could have voted for Joe Johnson's replacement, Lin certainly would have been selected. It's not fair to the fans to keep Lin out of the game.

Some argue that selecting Lin to the team after not playing for most of the season would have hurt the integrity of the game.

A game where the players don't play any defense until the last five minutes doesn't have any integrity.

The game doesn't mean anything. At least give the fans a reason to watch.