1994 All-Star Voting Question

[Scoot26]

In 1993-1994, the first year without Jordan, the Bulls BJ Armstrong stepped into his shoes and attempted to fill the void. I wouldn't say by any means his numbers were great at all. He did start November averaging 18 ppg, but he still wasn't Jordan obviously.

He made his one and only All-Star game in 1994, and was actually voted in. Not just voted in, but he was the #1 guard in the East and the 3rd overall in votes.
Eastern Conference

Guard
1.	B.J. Armstrong	529,065
2.	Kenny Anderson	493,690
3.	Mark Price	423,179
4.	Stacey Augmon	401,703
5.	Mookie Blaylock	390,433
6.	Nick Anderson	361,200
7.	Isiah Thomas	358,736
8.	Joe Dumars	340,581
9.	Jeff Hornacek	327,965
10.	Derek Harper	313,679

Forward
1.	Scottie Pippen	496,506
2.	Derrick Coleman	482,261
3.	Larry Johnson	419,620
4.	Calbert Cheaney	406,684
5.	Sean Elliott	387,581
6.	Dominique Wilkins	358,501
7.	Blue Edwards	353,064
8.	Kevin Gamble	342,878
9.	Glen Rice	208,865
10.	Larry Nance	202,044

Center
1.	Shaquille O'Neal	603,346
2.	Patrick Ewing	427,216
3.	Alonzo Mourning	379,998
4.	Brad Daugherty	374,228
5.	Shawn Bradley	371,917

Western Conference

Guard
1.	Clyde Drexler	493,204
2.	Mitch Richmond	469,978
3.	Kevin Johnson	431,885
4.	John Stockton	367,605
5.	Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf	343,418
6.	Kendall Gill	341,265
7.	Dan Majerle	329,618
8.	Gary Payton	316,720
9.	Ricky Pierce	207,198
10.	Kenny Smith	182,183

Forward
1.	Charles Barkley	794,936
2.	Shawn Kemp	461,880
3.	Chris Mullin	376,332
4.	A.C. Green	368,601
5.	Antoine Carr	348,754
6.	Karl Malone	322,450
7.	Detlef Schrempf	315,912
8.	LaPhonso Ellis	302,851
9.	Harvey Grant	290,248
10.	Jamal Mashburn	267,111

Center
1.	Hakeem Olajuwon	478,018
2.	Chris Webber	384,333
3.	David Robinson	350,873
4.	Dikembe Mutombo	337,827
5.	Vlade Divac	293,026

So my question for the older Bulls fans who may remember, is what made Armstrong's appeal so high that he was the 3rd leading vote getter in All-Star voting that year?

 

[knoxville7]

just a lot of bulls homers voting him in

I always remember him having a nice shot, some decent ball handling, good quickness....that's about it

 

[Scoot26]

just a lot of bulls homers voting him in

I always remember him having a nice shot, some decent ball handling, good quickness....that's about it

I became interested in basketball as a 6 year old in the summer before the 94-95 season... I remember the kids in the neighborhood all liking BJ Armstrong a lot (especially the shorter kids). But he only stayed there one more season then kind of became an after thought. So I maybe got a glimpse of the appeal, but I'm still not sure I see it warranted enough for him to get as many votes as he did. I feel like if it was just Bulls homers, Pippen would have many more votes.

 

[knoxville7]

I became interested in basketball as a 6 year old in the summer before the 94-95 season... I remember the kids in the neighborhood all liking BJ Armstrong a lot (especially the shorter kids). But he only stayed there one more season then kind of became an after thought. So I maybe got a glimpse of the appeal, but I'm still not sure I see it warranted enough for him to get as many votes as he did. I feel like if it was just Bulls homers, Pippen would have many more votes.

looks like Pip was top vote getter at the forward position :shrug:

in all reality a big part of the BJ Armstrong appeal came from his smile...came off as a very likeable guy. I remember back in that time my cousin having a huge crush on him. the guy could play a little bit but was not really an "all star" caliber player IMO

 

[Scoot26]

looks like Pip was top vote getter at the forward position :shrug:

in all reality a big part of the BJ Armstrong appeal came from his smile...came off as a very likeable guy. I remember back in that time my cousin having a huge crush on him. the guy could play a little bit but was not really an "all star" caliber player IMO

Could be a big factor actually. Especially in the female crowd.

 

[clonetrooper264]

So dat face and Jordan withdrawal? Makes sense I guess.

 

[knoxville7]

 

[Crystallas]

Okay, seeing how I remember this well and being an older watch-all games fan, I'll give you the answer. It wasn't so high, but that everyone else's appeal was so low. Jordan was pulling 2-4x as many votes, and when he retired, NBA interest dropped significantly.

But here are the reasons.

Arcades were still very relevant, different culture, and one of the hottest games to come out after Jordan retired was..... ________ and the most played team in this arcade game was...... ________ and when someone was missing from that team, the less localized perception(fans who have to read everything from the newspaper or sportscenter) was BJ now being the Bulls second best player. Which made sense since he was statistically up there in 3s, steals, FT%. So there was a lot of extra name exposure for him, when other guys like Blaylock and Price weren't on as many of those leader's lists early on, Zeke wasn't well liked at this point and this was before he tore his achilles anyways.

Also, within the fan base, Bob Love's number was retired before ASG voting closed. And it was headlines across the league that BJ was playing with a retired number. Bob Love told him personally to keep wearing it and had no problems because he liked BJ.

All these things added up to an extra layer of hype. It wasn't just one thing. It's never just homer votes, because then the largest fanbase would always just vote in someone from their team, and we have seen that has not been enough to push non-star caliber in big markets players over star players in smaller markets.

 

[Crystallas]

Was the second arcade revision and all the console releases.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Gotta love that game. Also lol at Pippen's clutch rating.

 

[Scoot26]

Gotta love that game. Also lol at Pippen's clutch rating.

BJ ARMSTRONG IS MORE CLUTCH. THATS WHY HE GOT THE ALL-STAR VOTES!

So NBA Jam, shitty eastern conference guards, Jordan absence, Bulls still popular, and females in love with BJ Armstrong are pretty much the reasons it would seem.

 

[Crystallas]

BJ ARMSTRONG IS MORE CLUTCH. THATS WHY HE GOT THE ALL-STAR VOTES!

So NBA Jam, shitty eastern conference guards, Jordan absence, Bulls still popular, and females in love with BJ Armstrong are pretty much the reasons it would seem.

And Bob Love moment, which was a conversation piece for a long while before it happened and after.

 

[Axl Rose]

getting head while i bench press, call me BJ Armstrong

 

[Axl Rose]

Was the second arcade revision and all the console releases.

fun fact: the guy that made that game was a Piston fan and he actually rigged the game so the Bulls would lose to the Pistons if the game was close

"If there was a close game and anyone on the Bulls took a last second shot, we wrote special code in the game so that they would average out to be bricks. There was the big competition back in the day between the Pistons and the Bulls, and since I was always a big Pistons fan, that was my opportunity to level the playing field."

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

It's very strange seeing B.J. with more votes than Isiah Thomas. Time can sure be a fickle bitch.

 

[brett05]

I thought Michael was never part of that game because Michael wouldn't allow it.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

I thought Michael was never part of that game because Michael wouldn't allow it.

I assume you meant Isiah, and you're thinking of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

 

[Axl Rose]

I assume you meant Isiah, and you're thinking of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

being able to call shots in the NBA while playing baseball would have been pretty boss though

 

[scottiepippen1994]

Scottie Pippen definately deserved MVP in the 93-94 season................

 

[MDB111™]

I thought Michael was never part of that game because Michael wouldn't allow it.

His likeness was not allowed to be used if i recall. He wasn't in any games. Not in NBA jam not in NBA live. It wasnt until well into the 2000's they finally started using him.