I have noticed some Yao-hatin' since it was announced that he had the most all-star votes in history! Shaq has already released his obligatory, "It's the Chinese vote" quote and the NY Times even stated that Amare should've been voted over Yao, while failing to mention that Amare was on the ballot as a PF. If they were matched up as centers on the ballot what WOULD happen?
Yao would win in the U.S, China, India, UK, France, Germany, Russia, ect.... The list can go on and on! And this is a message to Shaq's fat ass. Yao beat you twice on the allstar ballots IN THE US! Not in China but the US as well. He beat you straite up in the United States of America!
They really need to stop hatin' on Yao. It is NOT Yao's fault that Amare is listed as a forward. Amare himself does NOT want to be referred to as a center. Why don't they worry about Carmelo Anthony-- who's having a way worse year than Yao --having more votes than Amare in the power forward voting ?? Its such BS.... No one wants to admit that a LOT of people just like Yao and want to vote for him. I don't understand why they have to bring the Chinese vote argument all the time. Sometimes journalists try to be slick about it , and call it "Yao's large fan base" rather than really say what they think. --this was in an article in the Miami Herald by Israel Gutierrez.
BY THE WAY... Here's the NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/04/sports/basketball/04stars.html and here's Shaq's quote:"If you look at how he got all those votes, it's not difficult," O'Neal said. "You can't compete with that because where he's from, there's a billion people. I don't know how many people there (are) where I'm from. All them billions probably love him over there. They don't love me over there." http://www.theage.com.au/news/Baske...r/2005/02/04/1107476806378.html?oneclick=true
Why couldn't Amare win the forward votes then instead of Garnett and Duncan? Yao had the most votes out of anybody on the ballot.
if Yaop can win the vote over Shaq at center, plus be the leading vote getter over guys like KG, Vince, TD, Lebron and other people, he would totally destroy Amare in the vote
The actual truth is that Yao doesnt win because the CHinese vote him in, it's because the white people vote him in. Race as well as lifestyle has a lot to do with who the popular athletes are, especially in the NBA (or used to anyway)
because Garnett and duncan are Much much better then Amare.(not that it matters because all star starters is a popularity contest, so i should say: because Garnett and Duncan are more popular)
Yes, there are more than a billion Chinese. But as far as I know, at most 10 million have the ability to access internet. And a lot of them even don't care NBA. Those guys are soooooooo stupid and envy Yao's popularity. Amare over Yao? Are you kidding? Anthony can even beat him easily. Why nobody blame Carter? Hill? Barkley is the Biggest LOSER in the history. You can even smell his jealousness whenever he shouted "Amare, Steve Nash". Haha
Shaq is being small-minded. Hey, unlike last year, this year those 1 billion people not just vote for Yao (in the West) but also for you (in the East).
Well, shaq really sucks this time. Last year he lost to Yao for the votes in US, and this year he is still trying to sell this kind of s**t. Let me have a wild but reseaonable guess: most fans in China have voted shaq for the starting center position in the east, and this year he lost the battle to get more votes again in US.
If I remember correctly, Shaq is every bit as popular/well known amongst Chinese fans as Yao. Now that he's in a different conference, the Chinese fans undoubtedly voted for both of them. Shaq managed to get his big feet into his even bigger mouth this time around.
Yao and TMac, sweet! Since Yao got the new record of total votes in NBA all star, doesn't matter if Amare or Jordan, Yao will get voted over everybody else. Some people are jealous because they can't stand being the center of attention and hatin 'cause a lot more fans love Yao than other players.
I think part of reason Shaq is #2 vote getter is because chinese fans voted for him. Everybody wants to see Shaq vs. Yao.
Hmmm, I'm torn. I think Amare has had a better year thus far. He has better numbers as is on the team with the second best record in the league. But, as a huge Rocket fan, my heart tells me to vote for Yao. Either way, Yao would win the vote. Yao is MUCH more popular, in China and in the U.S., than Amare. Plus, sometimes it comes down to who is more in the public's eye. Yao is one of the biggest marketing icons in the world right now and, I can't recall, Amare even being in one national advertisement.
Yao would win. The all star ballot is a popularity contest, not a measure of someone's performance. Yao's simply more popular than guys like Amare. Get over it, media.
Now to be fair, I do believe Yao was able to get the most votes ever because, in part, there is no center competition in the West, popularity-wise. With Yao and Shaq splitting votes as in years past neither one would've surpassed the record (as they both did this year). Shaq needs to realize, though, he benefits from the worldwide vote just like Yao does--it's not 100% Chinese people voting for Yao and not Shaq and 100% Americans or even African-Americans, voting for Shaq and not Yao. You got beat again, Shaq, from sea to shining sea and all around the world--GET USED TO IT
