TORONTO — John Lucas III Says It With Something Approaching Defiance: “I Just Play Basketball. That’s All I Do. I Just Play Basketball.”

The Raptors Guard — It Is Probably Safe To Call Him That — Was Asked If His Role Changes If He Is Playing Alongside A Point Guard, Be It Kyle Lowry Or Jose Calderon. Lucas Was Not Rude, But He Indicated That He Does Not Change His Game Based On Whom He Is Playing With. He Just Plays, No Matter The Position He Would Be Assigned.

In Fact, It Seems Positional Designations Are Becoming Increasingly Pointless For A Bunch Of Reasons, Including The Decreasing Number Of Dominant Centres In The NBA. The League Announced Wednesday It Was Changing Its All-star Ballot: Instead Of Asking Fans To Select Two Guards, Two Forwards And A Centre, The League Will Now Ask Fans To Select Two Guards And Three Front-court Players.

Now, The All-Star Game Hardly Matters Unless You Are A Player With An Incentive-tied Contract. The Move, However, Signals A Shift In The Way We Talk About Players. Referring To Point Guards As “ones,” Shooting Guards As “twos”, Small Forwards As “threes,” Power Forwards As “fours” And Centres As “fives” Just Means Less And Less By The Season.

“Numbers Are Irrelevant,” Raptors Coach Dwane Casey Said. “Basketball Players Are More Important. LeBron James: Is He A Four Or Is He A Three Or Is He A Two Or Is He A One? For Us, DeMar DeRozan, Is He A Two Or Three? Jose [Calderon], Is He A [one] Or [two]? The Numbers Do Not Matter. How You Play Is More Important.”

And Many Roles Can Be Filled From Any Spot On The Court. Sure, Ball Distribution Is Usually The Responsibility Of The Point Guard And Rebounding Is The Responsibility Of The Centre, But Those Roles Are Not Exclusive To Position.

All-stars Are The Very Players That Are Most Likely To Play Games Unburdened By Traditional Positional Expectations. Mario Chalmers Might Be Introduced As The Miami Heat’s Starting Point Guard, But LeBron James Is More Responsible For Getting Teammates Involved. And James Is The Heat’s Best Defensive Option Against All But About Five Or Six Players In The Entire League. James Is Unique, To Be Sure, But The Dirk Nowitzkis And Kevin Durants Of The League Are Not Much Easier To Classify.

And Then There Is The Matter Of The Traditional Centre, A Player Who Controls The Paint Defensively And Plays With His Back To The Basket On Offence. Last Year, Four Such Players Were Selected To Play In The All-Star Game: Dwight Howard, Roy Hibbert, Andrew Bynum And Marc Gasol. Howard And Bynum Are The Only Two That Can Make A Legitimate Case Of Being Among The League’s Top 20 Players.

NBA Executive Vice President Stu Jackson Said In A Statement That The Ballot Change Was Being Made To Reflect The Growing Versatility Of Players, And That Seems About Right.

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“I Think Those Days Of The Dominant Centre, We’re Losing Those Days,” Casey Said.