NBA: 20 ridiculously obscure NBA All-Star seasons that we totally forgot
By Jono Perilli
3: Yao Ming (2010-11)
Season Stats: 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds per game (5 Games played)
Before you send me your loud tweets saying that we’re clueless for throwing Yao Ming on the list, this isn’t me throwing shade at one of the best bigs of the 2000s.
The 2010-11 NBA season saw Yao play five games. He was battling a terrible foot injury, that would end up retiring the big man.
But come on, he made an All-Star team based on name-sake alone. In one of the cases of fans completely overturning the All-Star voting system, Yao made the All-Star game simply based on popularity, not on how good he actually was.
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The voting in of Yao is a case of how truly flawed the fan voting system is, no disrespect whatsoever. It made no sense for him to be in it, and he didn’t even play. It was a waste of a spot that is embarrassing, truly.
Once again, there’s no disrespect to Yao Ming, he was an absolute tank in his career, and he deserves the popularity. But, the fact that he received an All-Star selection over someone like Al Jefferson, who was playing sensational in Utah, blows our mind.
Also, a bit more salt on the wound, Yao Ming was a starter for this team, absolutely wild.
This was probably the moment when the NBA started taking a look at fan voting, for the better of course.