MIAMI _ For years, NBA players have grumbled about their lack of inclusion in voting for awards and All-Star games. This season, the league gave the players 25 percent control over the All-Star voting process for starters.
Some took it serious. Some didn't. More than 100 players didn't even vote at all. And of the ones that did, many cast some strange ballots. Mo Williams and Ben Simmons were among the players who haven't played a minute this season, but received votes. JaVale McGee, Ian Clark and Patrick McCaw were among the Warrior seldom-used reserves who a few players voted as All-Star starters.
Grizzlies guard Tony Allen even periscoped himself doing the ballot. Here were his Eastern Conference starters: Mo Williams, Kemba Walker, Luke Babbit, Michael Beasley and Andre Drummond.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who cast his ballot for reserves on Sunday and is likely to coach the All-Star game, criticized the players for it on Monday.
"I am very disappointed in the players," Kerr said. "They asked for the vote and a lot of them just made a mockery of it ... I saw the list. I saw all the guys who got votes. Were you allowed to vote for yourself? I don't know. Were guys voting for themselves? There were 50 guys on there that had no business getting votes. But a lot of guys wrote in their buddies for the presidential campaign. So maybe that was their own way of making a statement. But I think if you give the players a vote, they should take it serious."
