KD told us NBA fans don’t actually like the NBA. I also think they don’t watch the games.
I know the title says NBA fans are dumb. They are. I completely hold the NBA responsible for hurting these guys futures, though.
I want to be clear, I don’t care about the actual All Star Game but I do care about recognition and rewarding guys who should be rewarded. The NBA fails their players every single season. Fans and media members should have ZERO say in who wins awards and accolades. I’m going to breakdown a few guys on the ASG list Shams posted but first you need to know why the media should have no say either.
Broussard didn’t vote for Bradley to make an All Defense team a few years ago because Devin Booker had 70 points against the Celtics that season. There’s a few things wrong here. First, it is weird to me to punish a guys entire season because of one game, feels very reactionary and honestly it’s this type of behavior that makes mainstream NBA media unwatchable for almost a decade. The biggest issue with this statement is that Avery Bradley didn’t play in that game. So, Broussard punished a player because of one game that he didn’t even play in. (Note Cowerd had no idea Bradley didn’t play either). Also, Broussard is a known history changer. I didn’t know how to say that and I chose a poor way to do so. Words can be hard. What I mean is he has been caught going back and retroactively changing his draft boards after the draft to make himself look smarter than he actually is.
It’s not just Broussard, Ramona Shelbourne (among others) voted for LeBron to win MVP in 2020. Not because he was deserving. No, because Kobe died that season and her vote was narrative driven and not performance based.
NBA Media member, who has a vote and the power to potentially affect these guys career admitted to VOTING FOR THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE BASED ON A NARRATIVE THAT SHE MADE IN HER OWN HEAD INSTEAD OF THEIR PERFORMANCE. The MVP shouldn’t be decided by performance according to Ramona.
Stop giving them power.
Now for the fan vote on this years ASG.
Klay has played two games for a total of 40 minutes and he is 4th in western conference guards. Fourth. We’re 40 games into the season and he has scored a total of 31 points. I love Klay, don’t mistake this for anti Klay behavior. He’s great but he has not been the 4th best guard in the west this year. Obviously.
This isn’t new, NBA fans have done this with Kobe, Iverson, Rose and others throughout the years. This isn’t new, the fan vote is bad now and was bad then.
7 of the 20 guys from the western conference are either on the Warriors or Lakers. Do we really think Carmelo who’s averaging 13 points 4 boards and 1 assist a game off the bench should be ahead of KAT or Ayton? Obviously not. Should Westbrook be ahead of CP3 or a young stud like Anthony Edwards? Not if you actually watch the games and I’m a Westbrook defender.
I don’t think anyone would argue that Darius Garland deserves to be recognized for his season. He’s currently sitting at 9 between Fred VanVleet and Jaylen Brown. Three guys I’d have above Kyrie who has only played in 3 games so far this season. I’d say Garland has an argument that he should start not just be the 9th guard but this is what happens when you give a voice to the fans. They’re not unbiased they’re fans.
Don’t even get me started on the league listing Demar as a guard because he’s played SG his whole career even though he almost exclusively has been a forward this year.
I mean LaMarcus Aldridge has missed 11 games this year, has only started in 10 games, and is averaging 13 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1 block a night. Why is he even sniffing this list?
NBA fans are dumb. NBA media is somehow dumber. The NBA and their execs might be the dumbest for even letting this happen.
Let the players and coaches vote. Don’t let them vote for people on their own team so you can hopefully remove as much bias as possible. At least if we disagree with who got selected we at least know that they understand the sport because right now between the fans and the media I don’t think they actually understand basketball.