Are you wondering exactly why Tracy McGrady was left off the All Star Team? It's not a snub of Manu Ginobili proportions like you might suspect. Snubbed or not, T-Mac had no intention of setting foot in the Big Easy since day one.

Rewind back to 2007. New Orleans was announced as the location for the 2008 ASG, and Tracy McGrady immediately wanted nothing to do with it. And based on the increase in violent crimes in New Orleans and the shitstorm surrounding Las Vegas '07, it was somewhat understandable. Whether he watched too many depressing Spike Lee documentaries or had a bad experience with a Frozen Hurricane and a drunk college co-ed we're not sure, but I wouldn't rule it out.

Fast forward to January 2008. The All Star Game is right around the corner, and Tracy McGrady has a firm grip on the second guard spot in the West, with nearly 10% more votes than the third place Allen Iverson. Suddenly McGrady, with his paltry 22 ppg, 5 assists and 5 boards a night, wants to surrender his spot to a more deserving player, which the rules won't allow.

Then, later that same week, T-Mac cites a nagging knee ailment that, although it ain't so bad now, may cause him to shut it down four weeks from now. Despite the fact that, since that debilitating knee ailment occurred, McGrady is still playing 36 minutes a night and has missed only one game (out of 11). And that one game was missed with flu-like symptoms! Something's fishy here.

The NBA heard T-Mac's waambulance and quietly scratched him from the ASG altogether. But don't ever expect them to say that. The official NBA ASG site shows that, over a 10 day period after paper balloting was closed, Allen Iverson mysteriously surged and overcame the 10% deficit and won by a measly 0.9% (10,400 votes). Despite the fact that T-Mac started in 2006 and 2007, the reserve selection committee also took the hint and decided to let Tracy "rest" and ice down his sore vagina knee, ending his seven game All-Star streak and selecting Brandon Roy and David West.

Even though the New Orleans Hornets play in front of dozens of fans every night without altercation, the Big Easy is apparently something to be very, very afraid of. And Tracy McGrady's unnatural phobia of Harry Connick Jr., voodoo parlors and crawfish etouffee has led to one of the great All Star non-appearances in league history.

Labels: All-Star Game, conspiracy theories, Tracy McGrady