Maybe it was how the Houston Rockets played well without him. Maybe it was that sparkling 45 minutes of play in six games. Maybe it's how his team put him on an indefinite leave even though it is paying him $23.2 million, more than anyone else is being paid in the NBA this season.
Regardless of the reason (most likely heavy voting in China), Rockets on-the-trading-block guard Tracy McGrady has moved back in front of the Suns' Steve Nash for the second starting guard spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
It's only by 1,005 votes (649,563 for McGrady, 648,558 for Nash) yet still noteworthy.
New Orleans' Chris Paul is close, too, with 622,619 votes. Suns fans likely would find it more understandable if Paul were the other starting West guard alongside Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who leads all vote-getters (1,606,032).
One might think McGrady, as an inactive player, would be ineligible for the honor but the early indication from the league office is that he would be able to start. There have been parameters for injured players previously but this likely is new territory.
Of course, McGrady could be traded to an Eastern Conference team by then, making the issue moot. China-influenced voting helped put McGrady, Yi Jianlian and Bruce Bowen (he's popular over there) all one spot away from starting at their positions in last year's game.
The good Suns news is Amar'e Stoudemire keeps expanding his lead for the starting West center job. He now has 1,143,849 votes, which is 467,215 more than second-place Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers.
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