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If you just returned from Mars or you live inside the demented mind of Tom Tolbert, these are a few things that might have caught you off guard this season.
Yao Ming leads Shaquille O'Neal in All-Star voting and has captured the imagination of the world with a totally unique game and personality.
Amare Stoudemire, as a recent high schooler, is throwing it down on everyone and has breathed life into a dead situation in Phoenix.
|  | | Yao Ming is looking at a starting spot in the All-Star Game. |
There is some "D" is Dallas.
Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway are on a team whose upside they haven't ruined ... at least not yet.
Michael Jordan is NOT in the top 10 in All-Star voting.
Robert Johnson was chosen over Larry Bird in Charlotte. How can you say no to Larry Bird?
Ricky Davis goes from Miami castaway to one of the NBA's top 10 scorers in Cleveland.
Bobby Jackson goes from a DNP-CD last spring in the biggest game in
Sacramento franchise history to their best player and arguably the top point guard in the league.
Utah holding off the inevitable one more time while Matt Harpring has finally found a team that can utilize his fine all-around game.
Shawn Kemp makes the most of whatever life he is now on.
Jerry West is back at work and immediately shocks the world by hiring Hubie Brown, who then instantly turns Memphis into a real team. "Dinosaurs Return to Rule the Earth" will be the next blockbuster headline.
The Knicks are on track to make the playoffs, which is their fans' worst nightmare.
There were a record 68 international players on NBA rosters to start the season.
The Celtics were sold to local buyers who like basketball and realize it costs money to field a competitive squad.
The teeter-totter of life always produces a downside as well. Los Angeles is searching its soul to discover what happened to its basketball teams ... the Lakers, Clippers, Bruins and Trojans have all apparently decided to take the year off. Thank goodness Mater Dei High School is still playing.
Vin Baker remains comatose in Boston, prompting ethical questions as to when you pull the plug.
The Wizards, once epitomizing hope, optimism and new beginnings, become the league's poster board for unfulfilled expectations.
Kwame Brown drifts aimlessly, wondering whatever happened to MJ's commitment to developing young talent.
Darius Miles gets swallowed up in the abyss of what once was an NBA franchise.
Vince Carter starts to make my career look good.
|  | | It has been all downhill for George Karl. |
George Karl continues his self-inflicted downward spiral to oblivion, unfortunately taking his team with him.
Tim Thomas squanders another perfect opportunity. I wanted to say "golden" but he already got the gold.
Minnesota and Kevin Garnett wallow in mediocrity and obscurity -- again and again.
Gary Payton's attitude transplant of a year ago was rejected by his accountant.
The lopping off of the heads in Atlanta stopped at one.
Dallas is the lone team to average more than 100 points per game. At what point do we accept that it's NOT the rules' fault?
The Nets and Rockets can barely get their families to attend games, causing the world to miss some VERY exciting ball.
The social phenomena of the 1970s returns as players start changing their names again (i.e., Todd MacCulloch and Dan Gadzuric).
Pat Riley loses it all by finally admitting that the refs control everything, including the games and championships that he won because they liked him then.
Bill Walton, who is an NBA analyst for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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