It's about the half-way mark in the NBA All-Star voting process and some of the numbers are starting to trickle in.
One of the surprises is Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady might be your Western Conference All-Star starter at guard. Wait, what?
From an NBA press release via RealGM:
In the Western Conference, Bryant, a three-time All-Star MVP, who also garnered the honor in 2002 and 2007, is followed at guard by the Houston Rockets’ Tracy McGrady (281,545). Anthony, the league’s leading scorer, paces forwards in the West (588,958) with the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki (366,300) second. The Phoenix Suns’ Amar’e Stoudemire (447,776) is the leading vote-getter among Western Conference centers, with the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum (299,484) following.
Yep, McGrady is currently second in voting and he hasn't played all season. If this is not a fair argument for eliminating the fan vote, I do not know what is.
Most people will pile on the Asian voters since many of them are Rockets fans but to be honest, many people would prefer to see Tracy McGrady play in an All-Star game rather than a more deserving candidate such as Blazers guard Brandon Roy. However, it's tough to find your All Star game as a legit venture when a player who hasn't played all season is a leading bote getter.
I'm not blaming for doing this but it makes you wonder how much a travashamockery the NBA All-Star fan vote has become.