Bobcats' Felton deserved better

I try not to get indignant about trivial things, and the NBA’s annual all-rookie team is just a step above trivial.

Still, right and wrong matter and Charlotte Bobcats point guard Raymond Felton was wronged big-time by three NBA head coaches.

Felton missed first-team all-rookie Thursday, primarily because three NBA head coaches left him off their ballots entirely. Technically four did, but one of those was Bernie Bickerstaff, who was barred from voting for his own player.

Now, tell me: Is it possible for an NBA head coach to be so vapid, so out of touch, that he missed what Felton did after the All-Star break? He was Eastern Conference rookie of the month in February, March and April. You could argue that in that span - half the season - he was equal to Chris Paul and clearly better than any other player in the rookie class.

Was he better than New Orleans’ Paul? No way, at least over the entire season. Was he better than Utah’s Deron Williams and New York’s Channing Frye? Clearly he was, and those two were first-team in a vote that disregarded positions.

I’ve heard two theories on how this could have happened. Either the coaches just weren’t paying attention when they filled out their ballots, or a handful of them were trying to rig the voting to get their guys on first team.

Since I hate it when people accuse me of malfeasance, I’ll assume the coaches just screwed up. And if that’s true, then maybe it’s time to turn these votes over to another body, like the media. Because if the coaches aren’t taking it seriously, why have them vote at all?