Over at ESPN’s True Hoop, Mark Stein takes us into a world we never thought we’d see… And admittedly, one that most of us don’t really care about. But still, Stein gives us insight into the method behind some of the ballot’s madness.
How They Make Sausage: The Process Behind The 2010 NBA All-Star Ballots
↵From True Hoop:
↵↵1. Every team must have a minimum of three players on the ballot. It’s not a matter of merely choosing the top 12 centers, 24 forwards and 24 guards in each conference.
↵2. All of our voting was completed during the first week of October — more than a month ago — for printing reasons. The league needs that much time to get the ballots ready for public consumption. […]
↵The majority ruled that No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin should be the only rookie on the ballot, which helped Hawes — along with that perennial center shortage — snag one of the three slots allotted to the Kings. The same reasoning applies to Ramon Sessions over Johnny Flynn in Minnesota. Rookies generally have to wait their turn to crack the ballot. Even Brandon Jennings.
↵[…]
↵The biggest problem with the ballot — as much as any of these issues are “problems” when no one in the discussion is a legit candidate to be voted in as a starter — is Allen Iverson’s presence as a West guard option.
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Ah, yes… Iverson on the ballot. Wouldn’t it be great to see a player like Iverson, who’s basically quit the Grizzlies to protest coming off the bench, wind up starting in the NBA All-Star game? Let the hand wringing begin!
↵If you’d like to vote for Iverson (or other, active players) the ballots are now open here.
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