Mark Cuban: Fan-led All-Star voting system ‘positively broken’ (Ball Don’t Lie)

The NBA All-Star Game is an exhibition contest. It has absolutely no relevance in the overall championship race. It is designed purely for entertainment purposes, a mid-February distraction pitched on basic cable television. It's important to remember that. All-Star appearances, however, are often used as negotiating tools when it comes time for players and teams to cobble together contracts. Even by those that understand that All-Star appearances shouldn't count much as a way to tally up a player's career accomplishments, the amount of All-Star nods are still treated like currency when it comes time to discuss a player's Basketball Hall of Fame viability. On top of that, even the most even-keeled of NBA media types still like to hammer out arguments over who should start over whom. Even if they don't deign to a write a haughty column over it, they'll still think about it in passing while washing dishes or talk back to the radio or TV when others put their picks on the line. For some reason, these things matter; and yet All-Star voting is left in the hands of fans that will typically turn the process into a popularity contest. This isn't why Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants...