Josh Barr of the Washington Post reports: A massive snowstorm that is pounding the northeast has caused an NBA game to be postponed.

That game is tonight's game between the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors at MCI Center.

The game has been rescheduled for March 4 at 7 p.m. Because the game was to be played on Michael Jordan's 40th birthday and broadcast by ESPN, no decision was made until after 6 p.m. yesterday. But with the severe weather restricting travel and the Raptors still in Toronto after their 99-97 victory over the Magic, the league announced the postponement.

After all the contraversy surrounding his reluctance to give up his starting role Vince Carter did exactly that yesterday, deferring to Michael Jordan and allowing the superstar to be a starter in his last ever All-Star game.

Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune writes that the issue was resolved just minutes before the game as Jordan reluctantly agreed to join the starting five, despite being picked as a reserve, when Vince Carter refused to take off his warmups.

"I told them I didn't want to start," Jordan said. "I started 13 times. I didn't need to start a 14th time. But Vince handled it with class."

Carter, who was voted in by the fans, had maintained that it was his duty to reward the fans who had faith in him and he wanted to prove that he still belonged in amongst the NBA's elite despite being injured over the past two seasons.

"I want to tell all my fans, 'Thanks for voting for me,'" Carter said. "But he deserves it."

Vince Carter is without a doubt one of the most exciting players in the NBA, and keeping this in mind it is little wonder that the Toronto superstar was voted into a starting role for the All-Star game this Sunday.

Carter, however, has missed the majority of the season with a damaged knee.  While he was able to return to the court for the Raptors over the past few weeks many believed that Carter was undeserving in his starting role for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and that the high flyer should defer to the NBA's greatest player of all time Michael Jordan.  Jordan has already announced that this season will be his last.

Sixers guard Allen Iverson, who will start along side Carter in the backcourt, has already offered his starting position to Jordan privately.  Orlando star Tracy McGrady went the public route in offering his position to Jordan, T-Mac also lambasting Carter for not doing the same two weeks ago.  Carter, however, believes that the starting position is his, and while he respects Jordan and all he has done he still has to serve the fans who voted him in

"The most important thing I want to get out of the Michael Jordan thing, to clear the air, is that I respect him," he said. "I felt a decision had to be made on what I had to do and what I felt was right."

"To turn my back on them (the fans) would be a lot worse because I would still have to see these million-plus people somewhere throughout the season," he said.

"He's a legend, the greatest player to ever play the game, and that's what made the decision tough," Carter said of Jordan. "I want to make it clear, I respect him, respect what he's about, and I realize that he opened the door for the players who are here today."

Fellow All-Star Gary Payton can see both sides according to Liz Robbins of the New York Times, saying that Carter has to come back and prove that he is still amongst the NBA's elite and this will be the last time fans will get a chance to see Jordan in a game for the fans.  

"You got to understand, Vince has been out for the last two years, he wanted to come back and prove to people that he could still play basketball, and that's what he should do," Payton said. "They voted him in there, they still think he's a hot commodity, they want to see him, let him go.

"But being Michael Jordan, it would have been nice for him to do that. It's going to be better for both of them. Michael's going to get a lot of time in the All-Star Game. It doesn't matter. And Vince is going to play also and people are going to see him, so it doesn't matter."

Last season Carter missed the All-Star game through injury, but he was able to excite the crowd the year before in Golden State.

Recent incidents involving the Indiana Pacers have left the team labelled the next coming of the old Pistons 'bad boys' of the NBA, but is the label really warranted.  Peter Vecsey of the New York Post goes back over recent incidents and shows not only were the Pacers unjustly treated but also why.

A four game suspension to forward Ron Artest was a joke in itself, but adding Pacers coach Isiah Thomas for an additional two games as a result of an altercation between Al Harrington and the Raptors Morris Peterson, started by Peterson, was the icing on the cake according to Vecsey.  When you look at the fact that Warriors forward Chris Mills only got three games for 1) fighting against the Portland Trailblazers, then 2) trying to get into the Blazers locker room after the game, then 3) blocking the Blazers bus and challenging all the Portland players as they tried to leave you can see that Vecsey has a point.

The fact of the matter is NBA commissioner David Stern was forced to voice his opinions on all suspensions prior to the embarrassing leniency shown by Stu Jackson.  He had to in order to restore credibility and to deter future acts after Jackson created a precedent.  Severity will act as a deterrent the league believes, and Artest and Thomas were the unlucky victims used to make a league point.

Vescey believes that in their quest to restore order both Stern and Jackson have lost all touch with common sense.  'First, they allow Pat Riley's melodramatics to bait them into making a major mockery over nothing regarding the Artest incident, and then, following a sham tribunal, they determine Thomas was a predator in the Mo Peterson-Al Harrington tripping/jersey-twisting episode,' writes Vecsey.

The incident with Thomas breathed life after Thomas rushed out to the aide of his player, only to be met with an alleged barrage of vulgar language which angered him.  Thomas? word in the indecent was not taken as gospel, Peterson denied making such comments, and the NBA viewed the situation as one in which the Pacers coach was an aggressor rather than mediator.  The NBA did hold an investigation, but the league's investigators, in exhaustive interviews with various eyewitnesses, were unable to confirm Thomas' accusation.

However, in a twist of irony one person who was not questioned by the league was Pacers guard Reggie Miller, who was restraining Peterson at the time of the incident.  While it cannot be assumed that Miller would ?shoot straight? given that his evidence would directly impact his coach, the fact that he wasn?t even question despite being the closest person not directly involved in an derogative sense gives off the impression that the way the situation was handled perhaps was not the most just.

Vecsey was able to catch up with Miller and asked if his coaches story was in fact accurate.

"I can only tell you what I saw and heard. It's that simple," Miller responded. "No one in the league asked me [bleep]."

"So, was Isiah's account accurate? Did Peterson curse him exactly as he said?"

"Yes! You can quote me on that," Miller said.

Peter Vecsey of the New York Post writes that sources within the Knicks are talking about GM Scott Layden and the messages he is sending the other league general managers.  Layden, Vecsey writes, is telling others the Knicks absolutely intend to make a major trade before the Feb. 20 deadline. "We know we have to do something, so make us your best offer."

The suitors are certainly out there, with Pau Gasol the lone untouchable on the Grizzlies and the Hawks making everyone on their roster available, including Jason Terry, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Glenn Robinson.  Ratliff was nearly re-traded back to Philadelphia last week in a multi-team deal which would have sent Derrick Coleman to the Hawks.

Toronto and Orlando are the most probable destinations for Ratliff, with both teams already offering packages for the shot blocking machine.