I love the NBA All-Star game. Well, true, I used to love it more in previous years, when teams were actually playing some defense BEFORE the 4th quarter, but I do enjoy the game even now. It’s one of those rare occasions when you can see all the best players in the league sharing the same court.

Anyway, a couple of days ago I filled out my NBA all-star ballot, and I would like to share my picks. I think I started voting for the all-star game back in 2008, and it’s funny to see how some of my picks in 2014 are the same as they were back then.

So here are my picks:

Eastern Conference

Joakim Noah

LeBron James

Chris Bosh

Derrick Rose

Bradley Beal

Western Conference

Tim Duncan

Dirk Nowitzki

Anthony Davis

Kobe Bryant

Stephen Curry

The Rajon Rondo trade really messed things up for me. I always picked Rondo in my ballot, but now he plays in the West, where there are two players who I would like more to see in the starting line-up: Kobe and Steph. AND it left me without a second guard for my Eastern conference. Rose was a must, I really love this player, and after all he’s been through… But Beal was sort of a choice by default. I really took a liking to this player during the last Playoffs, and since I didn’t have some other player to pick – sure, why not Beal. Wall, Wade – they are more than deserving the starting spots, but they will get their votes from other people. And I never really liked Wade, to tell you the truth. In previous years I almost always included Deron Williams in my ballot, alongside Rondo, but the way he’s been playing in the last two years… jesus. He never should have left Utah, he and Carlos Boozer were such a great duo.

Now, LeBron is a lock, of course. I always voted for him, and I think that he should’ve played in the 2004 all-star game, in his rookie year. Noah is also one of my favorite players in the league, and Bosh – well, he was always a great player, but in Miami he was in the shadow of LeBron and Wade. Now that LeBron is in Cleveland and Wade is more injured than ever, Bosh (when he’s healthy) really comes into his element, almost returning to his 20-10 days from Toronto. And I always thought that from Miami’s “Big Three”Bosh would have been the one with whom it will be best to sit and talk over a beer.

Now, in the West I have a few dinosaurs. Timmy is probably my favorite player in the world, and he’s also having a good season. He’s a lock. In fact, I think that Timmy, Dirk and Kobe appeared in every one of my ballots over the years. So is LeBron by the way, and Rondo was such a player until this year. I also liked voting for Durant, he’s one hell of a player, but this year I think Anthony Davis deserves the starting spot more (do Tiimy and Dirk deserve starting spots as well? Hell yeah!!!). Actually, it’s a real shame that there are no 8 starters for the West, because I would have really liked to include Durant and Rondo and also Dwight Howard, who was also a regular on my ballots when he played for Orlando. Back then he was the best center in the NBA. But then he went to the Lakers and nothing was ever the same. I mean, look at his rebounding averages – 13.00 in Orlando, 12.28 since, and that’s with his rookie year in Orlando, easily his worst ever in terms of rebounding average. Oh, Dwight Dwight…

Kobe – I think he earned the right to start in every all-star game until he dies. The same goes for Tiimmy, and LeBron is also in the same vicinity. Steph Curry – boy, I adore that player. I drool every time he shoots those 3 pointers. It says a lot about him that he managed to shun Rondo into not appearing on my ballot for the first time evar.

So that’s it, folks. Don’t forget to vote for YOUR favorite players, but make sure you include Timmy in your ballots. Otherwise – don’t vote.