Jaylen Brown thinks that NBA All-Star voting has become a bit of a dog and pony show.
On Monday, the NBA released the first fan voting returns for the 2026 All-Star Game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. this coming February. There were a few surprises on the list of initial returns, including how low Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James ranked.
In response to the ballot drop, retired former NBA All-Star Michael Redd gave a strong opinion on X. Redd said that he thought the vote was nothing more than a “popularity contest.”
The Boston Celtics star Brown agreed with Redd’s assessment and penned a critical message of his own. “I agree PR contest,” Brown wrote.
I agree PR contest https://t.co/Qpsswy0VNs
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) December 29, 2025
The NBA has tried its best in recent years to lessen the overall impact of the fan vote (now having it account for only 50 percent of the total weighting while the player vote and the media vote account for 25 percent each). But PR narratives about certain players can easily penetrate those latter two categories as well, fueling the argument for All-Star voting being a popularity contest at its core.
Interestingly enough, Brown, who is averaging 29.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game this year to help lead the Jayson Tatum-less Celtics to a 19-10 record, is currently in a strong position when it comes to the fan vote. He ranks at sixth among all Eastern Conference players, which puts Brown in the running for an automatic starting spot (given to the top five vote-getters in each conference). But even so, Brown, who has always been one to speak out against big business, is still not a fan of the whole NBA All-Star voting setup in general.
