The NBA Media Clearly Does Not Fuck With LaMelo Ball And It Cost Him A Spot As An All Star Starter
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.Last night the NBA announced their All Star starters, and for the most part I'd say it was what anyone who has been watching this season would predict. Granted this is heavily weighted in fan voting, but usually, the starters don't come with too many surprises
So what's so interesting about this year's results? Well, for that you have to look into how the voting results broke down. The most interesting case is of course what happened to LaMelo Ball
I mean, it feels pretty obvious what happened here right? The fans clearly made it known they wanted LaMelo, the players are clearly telling the world he's having a legit All Star caliber season, but then the media comes in and puts him 7th, which craters his vote total.
What's that about? I don't want to be a conspiracy guy, but this felt like them all finding a way to make sure Brunson/Mitchell, two point guards on two of the top 3 teams in the East secured those starting spots. That feels…kind of gross?
If the NBA is going to say 50% of these votes are going to come from the fans, and the fans made it very clear what they wanted to see in the All Star game, and then that's also backed up by the players to some degree, how can there be such a massive difference in terms of how the media voted? Do they not like his style of play? Is that it?
Some may argue, well he plays on a dogshit team. OK? And? This is the All Star Game, not All NBA. Not only that, but are the Suns and Warriors good? One is already a Lottery team (GS) and the other is on the verge of being a Lottery team (PHX) and that didn't seem to matter when it came to Steph/KD's voting results did it? So why should LaMelo be penalized for being on a rebuilding team when he had the fan and player votes? That just doesn't feel very consistent to me.
I could understand if the fan vote was 1, and player vote was like 5th or 6th. But for the players to vote that highly of LaMelo only for the media to tank it feels like something is up.
What's interesting is when you now look at the rest of the "guard" field for the East All Stars, guys like Garland, LaVine, Young, Cunningham, LaMelo etc, there's a world out there where he doesn't get the coaches votes either which would be pretty insane that a #1 fan vote and #3 player vote recipient wouldn't be an All Star. All of those guys have a case and all of them play on a better team, but again, should All Star spots be treated like All NBA? Bad teams can have players having All Star caliber seasons, it happens all the time. But just like we see time and time again when it comes to these awards being decided by the media, too often are they led by agenda and are not guided by the production happening on the floor.
So did LaMelo get screwed? I'd say so. Is it understandable why other guys might get his spot? I'd also say yes to that as well. It's a bit of a tough pickle situation, but if the NBA keeps telling us that the All Star Game is about entertainment and the fans, then the media spiking what the fans clearly want to see seems a little counterproductive. I mean, we live in a world where Andrew Wiggins was voted in as an All Star starter because he got a K-Pop boost, but the line has to be drawn at LaMelo? Seems weird.