All Star Voting has become a Farce – but not a funny one
Once upon a time the NBA All Star game had a purpose – to showcase the very best from around the league in a time before 1,000 channels and social media. In those days there was no league pass either and so trying to follow teams outside your own and the top team in the league as voted on by TV Executives was next to impossible. There was no YouTube and player videos and highlight packages that a person could watch. No, the only way to actually see many of the Stars was once a year during the All Star game.
Today of course is entirely different. There are very few if any games an enterprising lad with a computer and internet connection can’t watch and there exist more videos of players and prospects than a person could reasonably expected to consume in a lifetime. League pass alone provides all the out of market basketball a fan could ever want so what is the purpose now of the NBA All Star game?
Well, okay, you could say it’s interesting to see one team of the best players battle another team of the best players and I might agree if there was actually in fact, a battle. Anyone over the age of maturity knows that at least most of the players are there for the experience and camaraderie and festive atmosphere. The game? Well, that’s mostly about a chance to show off a bit and hopefully not embarrass yourself too much. And so it seems more recently that the fans too have decided to take the responsibility of voting the 10 best players in the league a little less seriously. In just the last few years alone we’ve seen the likes of Alex Caruso, Zaza Pachulia and Tacko Fall nearly exceed the vote tallies of league stars Devin Booker and Steph Curry.
This year is no different. On the first fan vote returns, Klay Thompson, who has yet to play a single minute has amassed more than 367,000 votes. In the East, Kyrie Irving, who just played in his first game of the season scored 267,000 votes. Carmelo Anthony perennial vote getter but generally a bench player has pulled in 319,000 votes; Derrick Rose, ditto, 267,000. Thank goodness Adam Silver changed the rules back in 2017 in order to reduce the impact of the fan vote by half with players and media voting taking up the other half. Even there though, there are oddities with players voting for players who have very little impact on the game like Amile Jefferson, Maxi Kleber, Tony Bradley, Sam Dekker, Chandler Hutchison, Ike Anigbogu and Jonah Bolden to name but a few. And the media? I suspect more than just a little homerism. The coach’s picks are most genuinely awarded and reflective of effort and results from that season of play.
So what should the NBA All Star game be and how should players be voted into it? Those are the questions. Should it even exist any longer? Perhaps it should be replaced by a mid season tournament or simply a week break to rest weary bones and heal nagging injuries. Perhaps the NBA could showcase the G League that week and give viewers a look at some of the guys toiling to get onto an NBA team. In any universe it’s difficult to try and make the case for a more competitive game when an injury to a star – and they are all stars at the All Star game – can make such a huge difference to a team’s run into the playoffs. Or maybe the fans shouldn’t vote for the players. Perhaps only players, coaches and media should vote in order to provide a more accurate representation of that year’s best players.
Certainly I don’t have the answers nor at this point even an informed and interesting option. But I would be interested in hearing from you and your mates on what you think the NBA should do with the game. Leave a comment and let us know!