It’s looking like a troubled All-Star Game for the NBA, with fans favoring Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady even though both players have had subpar seasons. But it’s not the first time fan involvement has muddied the All-Star waters.
1933: In a controversial move, baseball fans vote to have an All-Star Game
1985: In the NHL’s first year experimenting with All-Star fan voting, Dr. J starts at left wing for the Eastern Conference
1992: The free-throw line dunk receives more than 140 million All-Star votes
2000: The influence of Internet voting begins to have an impact on the MLB All-Star Game when fans choose the Backstreet Boys as the starting second baseman for the American League
2002: Every NFL player shows up to Hawaii after no player, coach, or fan bothers to vote anyone into the Pro Bowl
2004: Though analysts thought Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault allegations might stop him from being voted into the NBA All-Star Game, the fans prove they don’t really care about that stuff
2006: After bringing home a huge stack of ballots for his family, Manu Ginobili still only gets three votes
2007: Though many believed 76-year-old Willie Mays’ appearance as a starter showed yet another flaw in the MLB’s All-Star voting system, Mays goes two for three with a home run and a stolen base
