And now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way… can we acknowledge how much better Monta n this Warriors team has the potential to be when 100% healthy n gelling on the floor? I’m looking as far ahead as next season when I say this. Imagine what damage the team could do when Brandan Wright n Kelenna Azubuike have returned. When Beans n Turiaf are back to 100%. When Morrow’s retrieved his touch.

Isn’t it fun to imagine the bright days that lie ahead for this young club? Imagine how much damage Monta could do given the full support of his team next year, when he wouldn’t be forced into having to over-exert himself on the floor, playing 48 minutes n taking 28 shots. Imagine how efficient he has the potential to be with all his bigs back and everyone in rhythm.

Personally, I think not only will Monta’s efficiency go up, but so too will the Warriors become so much more lethal in the years ahead when this promising group of players have collectively figured it all out. I can’t wait.

to expect that in the NBA- easily the flashiest of the four major sports in this country- the (far) flashier player will be elected to play in the flashiest game of the year??

I think that with the fact that he’s so small, standing 6’3" n weighing a buck-eighty, paired with his (in my opinion) unparalleled ability to score at the rim, n his success rate getting there at the clip that he does (he leads the league in points in the paint), along with the fact that he puts on a one-man show every night (how many Ellis highlights do we get per game??) make him the most exciting player in the league.

When MJ was in his prime with the Chicago Bulls, the league was a lot taller than it is today. And pretty much every competitive team had a dominant center that anchored their gameplan (either on offense, like Abdul-Jabbar, on defense, like Mark Eaton, Tree Rollins, Bill Laimbeer, or Manute Bol, or both, like Hakeem Olaijuwon n Ralph Simpson). In fact, MJ, standing at 6’6", was considered short for a 2-guard (by an inch) in the 80’s (Clyde Drexler was 6’7"), as Ellis is considered by many in the present day (D-Wade is only an inch taller than him as well).

So, though MJ stood 3 inches taller than Ellis, Ellis is no less a David among Goliaths than MJ was in his first stint with the Bulls, when he mercilessly attacked the rim as gracefully as a ballerina on a nightly basis, n filled up the highlight reels in the process. To me, this is no different than what Ellis does with his own grace n athleticism every night.

He’s usually the smallest dude on the court, n yet, he slays would-be defenses with his extraordinary quickness n explosiveness (n hangtime) as easily n as often as MJ used to.