How seriously do NBA players take their all-star voting responsibilities? Cameron Payne got a vote.
That’s right, the Bulls guard who hasn’t suited up since last April received a vote from one of his peers.
Luckily, that one vote wasn’t the decisive factor in Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan being named the top guards from the Eastern Conference.
The NBA determines all-star participants through a three-way voting process — players, fans and media.
Some other players to receive head-scratching votes from their peers: Derrick Rose (two), Sean Kilpatrick, Tyler Cavanaugh, Doug McDermott, Denzel Valentine, Zach LaVine, Nerlens Noel, Wayne Selden and Emmanuel Mudiay.
Lauri Markkanen led the Bulls with eight votes from the players. In case you’re wondering, Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis had two apiece.
The Bulls entire team received 170,699 votes from fans. By comparison, LeBron James, the overall leading vote-getter, received 2.6 million.
This season the traditional East vs. West format will change. James and Steph Curry, the leading vote-getter from the Western Conference, will act as captains and select their own teams on Jan. 25 from the pool of participants regardless of conference. The ALl-Star game will be played Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.
