I mean I'm all for fans supporting thier teams but to do so as blindly as that?!? lol...I mean I'm a big Timberwolves fan but I don't think it would be right for Big Al to start over someone the caliber of KG (and Yi isn't even on Al level yet)....and he's a 20-10 guy! (and yes, I know thier in different conf...I'm just making a comparison in the situation) I'm just saying a player who isn't even a consistent contributor shouldn't be starting over the prennial All-star....but if he gets in solely based on his ethnic heritige and not his skills on the court...then ummmmm....lucky for him
Last time I checked, haters didn't count in the voting process. Boston fans aren't greedy, they are right - Yi has no business being at the All-Star game. It would be a complete joke. Lebron's name was "thrown" in because he deserves to go, guy.
Who cares about the NBA All-Star Game? It's for FANS. Fans vote the way the want to. If the game wasn't for the fans, it wouldn't be based on fans' votes. China is helping to keep the NBA in the black. As noted, there are months when the NBA gets more revenue from China than it does from North America. The NBA is building NBA-quality arenas in China for a Chinese version of the NBA. NBA teams visit China every year. No doubt, the Nets will be there next October. The Nets have THREE Chinese websites: two of their own and the Nets site on the NBA's league wide China site. Voting for ethnic heritage is just one of a number of silly reasons why fans vote for players. It's no worse than punching in the names of your favorite team's players. Happens all the time. I hope Yi starts. I don't care about KG's ego or the supposed "integrity" of the All-Star game. (It might also help the Nets get Lebron who wants to be a "global icon". Yi's popularity should remind him of that.)
It is a popularity contest, so if Yi does indeed get in, It shouldn't be a problem. Like Kdub said, if they want the best players of the league in the game, then they should only allow GMs/Coaches to vote. Not the fans
Fan voting man, it should serve as an indication as to how much the NBA cares about the all-star game. (see: they don't, its about making money, like everything else) So you should probably take it less seriously, I don't think anyone is gonna lose sleep over Yi being in the all-star game.
It would be a travesty if Yi gets voted into the all-star game. He will be the worst all-star in league history by far with those lackluster 11/6 (42% FG) numbers.
Maybe they should have like 2 all star games. One in mid season based on the fans having their popularity contest like it is, and then have one after the finals like the nfl does for all pros. That game would be decided by the gm's and coaches.
Oh, really?....Then please explain why Mengke Bateer and Wang ZhiZhi didn't get enough China "stanning" to start in the All-Star Game? In case you havent been following the sports news lately, Yao isn't even the most popular player in China (I should know, I'm part Chinese and I follow Chinese basketball) it's Kobe freakin' Bryant. Just look at the jersey sales in China....Yao aint even in the top 5. I'm sick of all this fucking Chinese bias shit, this is starting to get borderline racist, if the NBA is so afraid of a bunch of Chinese people voting in a fucking Chinese person to start for the fucking All-Star team, then leave his fucking name off the fucking ballot. [/end rant] Oh and for the record, NO, Yi does NOT deserve to be an All-Star this year....maybe 2 years from now.
On the contrary, I stated, and I quote "borderline racist"....nowhere in my sentence did I mention anyone or any party involved as being a fully blown racist. But since we're on the topic, don't you agree it's kinda stereotypical to automatically assume that just because a certain player is a certain ethnicity it automatically means a certain nation would blindly and mindlessly vote for that individual? It aint just Asian people voting for Asian athletes.... That would be parallel to stating that ONLY Americans of Black decent voted for Obama....which is a statement obviously skewed from reality.
We'll have to wait and see how the votes turns out but I would be very surprise if Kobe isn't the leading vote getter in the West and Lebron isn't the leading vote getter in the East. Kobe Byrant was by far and away the most popular athlete at the Olympics full stop. His popularity is at an all time high world wide. For the record, Yao who is about 100 times more popular than Yi in China wasn't even in the top 3 vote getters last season. So make of it what you will about the China voting. To me a lot of what you're reading now is just paranoid. I think Yi will get votes and not just votes from China but in the US as well but it'll be nowhere near enough to pass over Lebron, KG or Bosh. I also agreed with you about Yi and the All Star game. I am ethnic Chinese but I don't want him anywhere near the ASG. It just adds extra pressure on a young player. However people are entitled to vote for whoever they want to see.
I want to see good players on the court in the ASG (even if they aren't the "best", ex. Iverson). That's what makes it fun to watch. Yi Jianlian is not a good enough player IMO. That's it.
A.I shouldn't even be in the allstar game. But he will probably end up starting for the east. This is the reason why I really don't care if Yi gets voted in.
I guess now is a bad time to drop my campaign video: [video=youtube;53miV0KvsGM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53miV0KvsGM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53miV0KvsGM[/video] Honestly the nba voting process can be a huge joke as displayed here but as a Net fan, I'd be happy if anyone made the all-star game and I'm just happy we have someone who has some major pull fanbase and marketing-wise around the world.
AI doesn't deserve to be in the game based on pure play either, but entertainment wise I don't mind having him in it. Yi won't do anything special to make up for his lack of talent. AI will probably supply some fancy moves in his 10-15 minutes of play. That's why I don't mind having him in it.
This is why I'm pissed off at the Boston Globe writer for putting up this BS. No way will Yi get voted in ASG. It's Garnett nut huggers being paranoid in fear of the faceless mass of Chinese yellow peril. Sheeples buying in on this need to get their brains checked. Besides, Yi will be at the all-star weekend for the Rookie vs Sophomore game. Both games are just meaningless excuse for me to hang out and drink with friends etc. btw... it's ok for Iverson to be in ASG because he carry the ball and dance around the court. It's entertainment, that's like being like a pro-clown. Kinda pathetic no?
