As the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star break nears, fans have been voting every day for their favorite players, hoping to see them in the prestigious All-Star Game.

Every February, the NBA hosts an exhibition game, showcasing the 24 best players, voted on by fans, players, and the media. The fans have the largest say at 50%, while the other two groups have 25% each. The problem is that fans take the voting as a joke, leading to inaccurate results.

Some controversy has emerged as the fan voting was released on Jan 13. For example, Klay Thompson was fourth in fan votes for guards in the Western conference.

The 3-time NBA Champion has always been a popular player, but he missed all of last season due to an ACL injury, and the first half of this season due an Achilles injury.

Prior to Jan 9, he had not seen the floor in 941 days. He has averaged 13.8 points per game (ppg), 3 rebounds per game (rpg), and 1.8 assists per game (apg), in his three appearances this season.

There are much more deserving players such as Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, or Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker who are performing much better statistically over more than 10 times the games Thompson has played.

There has also been outrage over Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins receiving over 1.8 million votes and reaching the number 3 spot among Western conference frontcourt players, despite an average of only 18 ppg.

These examples showcase the problem with All-Star voting in the NBA: The fans have too much power. Their votes should not have the same weight as the players and media combined.

When the fans are the most important voters, the results center around who the most likeable players are, not who is most deserving of participating in the exhibition game.

Last year, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks had a breakout sophomore season, posting great numbers on solid efficiency. However, he is seen as the league villain and does not have many fans outside of Atlanta.

This caused him to miss the game last year, as he did not receive as many votes as other players.

The NBA needs to find a happy medium. A system where fans still have a say, but most of the decision is led by media professionals and players.