The fact that Rudy Gobert got more media votes, more player votes and a higher player rank than Andrew Wiggins proves that NBA All-Star voting is broken.
By all meaningful voting metrics, Rudy Gobert is universally considered to be a better player than Andrew Wiggins.
During voting for the NBA All-Star roster, Gobert received more votes from media members and was ranked higher than Wiggins by fellow players. Still, because of a system that puts too much stock in fan popularity, Gobert lost out to Wiggins for the All-Star spot to play frontcourt for the Western Conference.
As one Reddit user summarized it, “Andrew Wiggins only received 4 out of a possible 98 votes from the media and was still able to be named an All-Star starter. Rudy Gobert received 64/98 votes and didn’t even finish Top 5.”
Despite superior rankings, Rudy Gobert loses All-Star spot to Andrew Wiggins
The numbers put the disparity into perspective: Gobert received 52 player votes; Wiggins received 46. Gobert ranks No. 4 among players; Wiggins ranks No. 5. Gobert received 65 media votes; Wiggins received four. Gobert ranks No. 3 among media; Wiggins ranks No. 6.
But Wiggins ranks higher in fan rankings, which is what gives him the edge over Gobert. Wiggins received 3,452,586 fan votes; Gobert received 767,505. Wiggins ranked No. 3 among fans; Gobert ranked No. 9.
While there’s a massive discrepancy between Gobert and Wiggins, fellow Golden State Warrior Draymond Green also got snubbed by garnering fewer fan votes than Wiggins. Green got 58 player votes, ranked No. 3 among players, got 20 media votes and ranked No. 4 among media, but he didn’t make the All-Star roster either.
While fan participation is an enjoyable experience, weighting the opinions of fans — which can be more of a reflection with hometown loyalty or population than actual player performance — unfairly ranks Wiggins over Gobert. In the eyes of players and the media, Gobert and Green are better players, but because San Francisco has a larger fan base than Utah, Wiggins outranked Gobert. Notably, Wiggins also dunked on his fellow Warriors teammate, but Green didn’t have the fan votes to push him over the edge.
All of this contributes to the fact that this system doesn’t create a match of the NBA’s all-stars: it’s simply a match of their most popular players.