NBA All Star voting: 2013 will prove it must change











Tim Duncan
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
David Lee
FG percentage
FT percentage
Team win %
Statistics as of 1/3/12







  1. You do have a point; small-market players are certainly at a disadvantage to big-market players in all-star voting. However, I disagree that fan voting should not be a part of all-star weekend. As you said yourself in your argument about David Stern fining the San Antonio Spurs, the NBA is a business, and the business rests upon its stars, and the fans paying money to see the stars that they want to see. You argued that because Gregg Popovich usurped the unwritten rule and hurt the NBAs profitability by sitting his stars during a national TV game (and did this in an untimely manner), he deserved to cost his team $250k. Now, here you state that "Sure, it’s for fans like you and me, but don’t we want to see a showcase of the best NBA talent?" Well, not exactly. Sadly, most fans want to see the most POPULAR players rather than the best ones, just like they want to see Tim Duncan and Tony Parker playing against the Miami Heat, rather than actually seeing a close game (which the mia-sa game was in spite of those two not playing). It may not seem related, but if the NBA is a business that is contingent upon its fans and the stars the fans want to see, it cannot do away with the fan vote.

    Of course, it is not perfect. Jeremy Lin shouldn't be close to sniffing the all-star ballot with guards like Curry, Westbrook, and Parker in the conference, let alone potentially starting over Kobe Bryant or CP3. And as an avid Laker fan, I will say that David Lee deserves to START the all-star game ahead of D12, who is not playing all that well. Howard is still a better defender than Lee, though not only has Lee been better in rebounding and offense, but also his team has won more games! So, clearly D12 is getting in on reputation as a starter (I still think he should make it as a reserve though), and David Lee should get the start. I still think Curry and Lee will get in as bench players, considering that fan vote has nothing to do with that, and coaches will recognize the success that the Warriors have had due to these two players.

    Also, remember, the "votes in the hand of some combination of coaches, general managers, and sportswriters" can be extremely bias as well. Kobe has made all-defensive teams for 10 years running, and as you know, he is not a good defender today. Meanwhile, guys like Tony Allen (who is arguably the best perimeter defender in the league) get passed over for more household names. This voting is conducted by sportswriters, broadcasters and even GMs, I believe. So it can clearly be extremely bias, just as much as fan voting.

  2. "Sadly, most fans want to see the most POPULAR players rather than the best ones." This may be the case but it's worth a shot if somehow Jeremy Lin or other undeserving players make it. I completely believe that Kevin Garnett, a player I personally like, is nowhere near deserving an All Star starting role. Also, to that point, fans may want to see the most popular players but what about small market fans (like Golden State) who truly appreciate what their player has done for their team? He deserves to be recognized and may well become more popular if given the spotlight.

    That's definitely respectable that you see Lee deserves a spot over Howard but most of the NBA fans don't see it or don't care. Recently I saw something where a fan suggested DeMarcus Cousins deserves the spot behind D12.

    I truly do doubt that Curry and Lee will make the All Star team because as Ric Bucher said during a post-game interview, many people are split with D-Lee and Steph and will probably only choose one. Not only that but it'd be a shame if the votes were split in such a way that NEITHER made the's completely realistic, too.

    I agree that the groups I mentioned have bias, and your Kobe analogy is a perfect one. But it's worth a try for a year IF 2013 snubs worthy players. I would also argue that the voting nature where people can vote more than once plays a it exponentially adds votes to Kobe and LeBron.

    Maybe this is a better solution: do something like having coaches choose two players from each team or X total players at each position in each conference and have fans voting for that narrowed down pool. The Jan 3 tally I cited just shows too many things that are just plain wrong. I do like the way baseball forces each team to have representation in the ASG but admittedly that's less plausible in a 12-man roster basketball team.

  3. I'm almost sure one of them will make the team; both are deserving, but players get snubbed every year. Aldridge was snubbed in 2010/11 averaging 22/9 on 50% shooting from the field. Monta was snubbed several times even though he was averaging 23 a game. It happens every single year, in basketball and in football for the Pro Bowl (unsure about baseball, but that's not my forte). And it won't be prevented because there are almost always more deserving players than there are spots in the game. If someone has to make it from the Dubs it should be Lee , as his stats are just scary, but I think both should.

    If Jeremy Lin makes it, yes, something should be done. But that's quite unlikely to happen. D12 or KG making it wouldn't be a travesty, however. KG has done AMAZING work on the defensive end for the Celtics; I read an article on Grantland that said that with KG on the floor, the Celtics have the best defense in the league, and when he's off the court, it is last in the league. And D12, in spite of his down-season, is still averaging very solid numbers on both sides of the court. At the end of the day, having fans vote on all-star starters is a good way for the NBA to keep fans interested in the game and the players they love ("fan favorites") and the coach vote for the reserves will prevent egregious snubs (ie: If Jeremy Lin gets in over CP3, CP3 won't end up not being an all-star at all).

  4. Lee has carried the offense in the Warriors starting front court by himself without Bogut and Rush. Two rookies start next to him in Barnes and Ezeli and yet they are 5th (4th at one point) in the West. He should be starting over Griffin because he leads all categories except blocks or even Howard whose team has a losing record.

  5. Completely agree. I see it kind of like an MVP race: who has impacted their team the greatest? For that, like we've said, D-Lee has the stats and team record to back it up. This idea that fan voting is okay because it keeps fans engaged isn't right. The best players should be All Stars! Granted D12 and Blake are All Stars, but D-Lee should be a step higher - not below. It will be interesting to see how his and Curry's chances play out.

  6. Sportswriters and commentators (the media) should be able to vote for the starters (with a 50% weight to balance the fan votes) or at least vote for the reserves as they do for the league MVP, ROY, DPY, COY, etc. Coaches have favoritisms and sometimes they just vote in for a familiar name without regard of who actually deserves it. Combining the coach votes with the media votes makes more sense. At the very least, the media should decide who gets the two wildcard spots.

  7. Interesting idea. I agree that the media should be able to have a say as well. The process does need to change, but to eliminate the fan vote completely is not the way to go.

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