Timofey Mozgov is decidedly pro Ty Lawson, anti drinking and driving
There are arguments to be made this season for Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson to make his first NBA All-Star Game, but his starting center offered the best one. That much isn't up for debate.
Spreading the word as All-Star voting opened, Russian 7-footer Timofey Mozgov presented a polite and reasonable pledge to vote Lawson into the game on Reddit — a subject that's entirely up for debate.
"Hey, Reddit, what's up? Have a good day, OK? It's Timofey Mozgov, yo. The All-Star — you've got to vote for my boy Ty. He give me the assist. I get bucket. So, he's a good dude. You've got to vote for him. And again — have a good day. And don't drink and drive."
Talk about efficiency. Mozgov bid everyone "a good day" not once, but twice, sandwiched those niceties around his support of Lawson, and then closed with an appropriate public service announcement before struggling to find the off button on the camera — all in the span of 22 seconds. A perfect video.
Of course, Lawson himself was arrested for driving after drinking as a 20-year-old college sophomore, so Mozgov doesn't want you to repeat his point guard's alleged mistake, which makes perfect sense. Lawson has also matured since 2008, so Mozgov would like you to reward him with an All-Star vote.
But does that make sense? Fans can only select two guards as Western Conference starters, and while Lawson leads the West in assists per game (10.3), his 18.2 player efficiency rating ranks him well below Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry (26.9), Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul (26.8), Houston Rockets guard James Harden (24.9) and a host of others, including Sacramento Kings point guard Darren Collison (19.5) and Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Monta Ellis, per Basketball Reference.
Obviously, PER isn't the end all, be all of All-Star worthiness, and Lawson has indeed assisted on a number of Mozgov buckets this season — 41, in fact, according to NBA.com's statistics tool — but MVP candidates like Curry (62.9 true shooting percentage), Paul (61.2 TS%) and Harden (58.2 TS%) have also proven to be significantly superior to Lawson (50.2 TS%) this season in a number of categories.
Still, Lawson's recent performance (14.8 points, 11.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game in December) has certainly vaulted him into All-Star reserve consideration — a conversation that also includes Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard and Tony Parker, among others — so here's hoping Mozgov releases another video lobbying Western Conference coaches to vote Lawson to an All-Star bench.
Basically, they don't have to be drunk to consider Lawson an All-Star, but if they are, don't drive.
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is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
