Yea, but its still one vote a day per computer. If you have X stations in an internet cafe, you're limited by machine count in the number of votes you can make. And yes, as A-Train says, most people go to those cafes to send email to bfs/gfs and play online multiplayer games.
This scenario is no more (or less) controversial than Magic Johnson being voted into the '91-'92 All-Star game. If anything, Yao's got scoreboard on Magic since he will have actually PLAYED during his All-Star season. It's all about the cash and it always has been. Face it, Shaq's probably collecting votes as I type this and he doesn't deserve a single one as he has yet to take the floor this year.
Internet cafes can be found in most major cities. The vast majority of the population is still living in farmlands. However, if voting catches on in Hong Kong and Taiwan, we're talking about 30 million people (give and take a few) with the bulk of them having easy access to the internet. Bball is VERY popular in Taiwan.
Again, as The Cat stated, it will take very little from China to get Yao into the all-star game. It doesnt matter if 99% of the population has never heard of Yao Ming or if 99% of the chinese population has never even seen a computer. Its the other 1% that counts. This accounts for 15 million people. Take 5% of that population to vote for Yao Ming and he will start in the All-Star game.
Actually Cat you're a decimal place off... it would be .oo6 percent of the population of CHina to get 900,000 votes. Heh, sorry for being anal, I couldn't resist.
It can be said that outside of Yao's basketball skills, his international popularity was a strong reason that David Stern wanted him in the NBA as well as Les/CD/Rudy wanting him for the Rockets. If Yao goes to the All-star game, this proves that the NBA has become a powerhouse marketing machine, and less devout to the true nature of the game.
I know Yao is China's favorite player but are the Rockets their favorite team? I vote for what is familiar to me with respect to what I think is best. If this is the case in China, there could be more Rocket surprises than we now anticipate.
You know it is possible. They watch televised Rocket games, so they know our players by name. Come voting time, this may lead to votes just based on name recognition alone.
Thats a good point Another Brother what if Kenny Thomas Steve Francis Mobley and Ming are voted in. I guess only time will tell. Does NBA.com show the number of votes on there site?
Yao will not get enough votes to get in, guarenteed. Just look at Wang, who was the first chinese player ever to play in the nba and is even more popular than ming in china didn't get really any votes.
Not according to this guy from the Arizona Republic.... Don't reserve All-Star spot for Yao Weekend Guide Nov. 15, 2002 12:00 AM History happens in the Valley tonight when the Houston Rockets visit the Suns at America West Arena. Of course, that means No. 1 overall draft pick Yao Ming visits (8:30, Cox 9, ESPN, KTAR 620, KPHX 1480), making this quite an occasion. That's because inside of three or four years, he'll probably be history. It also brings to mind an interesting question: How do you say LaRue Martin in Chinese? A master of almost no facet of the game, Yao makes Martin look like another historic basketball figure, Wilt Chamberlain. Manute Bol has a better chance of playing hockey than Yao does of having an All-Star career. OK, maybe that wasn't the best example, but you get the picture. This completes our history lesson. And enjoy the game. I think this is utter BS but oh well.
Well, as far as I can remember, the NBA has never made voting so accessible to them before (Chinese ballot). Also, Wang was a write-in candidate, not a candidate on the actual ballot. That makes a huge difference.
