NBA All-Star fan voting has begun, and Giannis Antetokounmpo believes he’s missing out on a boatload of votes.
Each year, the NBA allows Twitter users to take part in the All-Star voting by using #NBAVote in any tweet containing the player’s name. According to the rules, a player’s first and last name must be spelled correctly for the vote to count. That’s a daunting task for fans of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Reporters asked Antetokounmpo about the voting process on Wednesday, and he, too, acknowledges that his last name is an absolute hassle to spell. “I’m surprised [that so many people could spell “Antetokounmpo” correctly],” said Giannis in a video posted on the Milwaukee Bucks’ Facebook page. “Imagine how many votes didn’t count from people who didn’t know how to spell my name.
“I’d have a million votes if everybody could spell my name right.”
With averages of 29.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists, Antetokounmpo is well on his way to making his second-straight All-Star team. LeBron James has been the only forward in the Eastern Conference playing better basketball, and Giannis’ international pipeline will only garner more votes.
Of course, those who aren’t actively writing out his name on a regular basis will have misspellings. And some are going to be hilarious. That’s not an indictment of fans because “Antetokounmpo” is challenging to spell — it took me months to reach the point where I didn’t have to copy and paste his name from the Google search bar into a text editor.
The voting on Twitter lasts until Jan. 15. Let’s see if that’s enough time for fans to make up the one million votes Giannis Antetokounmpo is missing out on.