That gives the international squad five of the last six MVP awards, as Nowitzki won last year and Nash and Duncan have two each previously.

(It's true that the Virgin Islands are an American territory which is why Duncan is eligible to play for the U.S. Olympic team. But for the sake of the All-Star Game, the American team would be made up of players from the 50 states and Washington D.C. — leaving players from U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to the World.)

Now add to that starting lineup these reserves:

Guards: Tony Parker (France), Jose Calderon (Spain), Luol Deng (England)

Forwards: Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey), Peja Stojakovic (Turkey), Pau Gasol (Spain)

Center: Zydrunas Illgauskas (Lithuania)

That team, no doubt, could play with any 12 guys Uncle Sam could come up with.

And that's not even taking borderline All-Stars like Andrew Bogut (Australia), Andrei Kirilenko (Russia), Andrea Bargnani (Italy), Memo Okur (Turkey) or any of the other fine international NBA players.

Now that's an All-Star Game I would be willing to invest some time tuning into. It would be even better than sleeping or watching paint dry.

Truth be told, I'd probably want the World team to win, too, if it meant humbling the likes of Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant just a bit.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com