The Boston Celtics have been one of the surprise stories of the NBA so far this season, currently sitting at 19-12 despite a recent road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers to open up their West Coast trip. Jaylen Brown has been playing at a borderline MVP level so far this season, putting up monster stat lines on a nightly basis to help keep the Celtics near the top of the Eastern Conference standings despite playing without Jayson Tatum.
On Monday afternoon, the first batch of NBA All-Star fan votes was released, and many were surprised to see that Brown received only the sixth most votes in the East. In the aftermath of this, former NBA player Michael Redd took to X, formerly Twitter, calling the voting process a “popularity contest.”
“These votes are based on name recognition, which comes from past performance, social media presence, and off-field narratives. Not necessarily who's having the best season right now,” wrote Redd.
Brown then agreed with that sentiment in a quote tweet.
“I agree PR contest,” wrote Brown.
It shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise that the fan vote is something of a popularity contest, but thankfully for Brown, it isn't the only medium through which a player can be named an All-Star, and he is almost guaranteed to be on the Eastern Conference roster when it is officially announced.
Many were skeptical that Brown would be able to hold down the fort this year with Tatum out, and with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis having been traded over the offseason. However, Brown has been able to silence his doubters with efficient scoring, improved playmaking, and continued solid defense for the Celtics so far this season.
The Celtics will next take the floor on Tuesday evening on the road against the Utah Jazz, looking to avenge their home loss to them earlier in the season.
