Plenty of people were amused by Zaza Pachulia nearly starting the All-Star game.
The Mavericks center fell just 14,227 votes shy of Kawhi Leonard for the final Western Conference frontcourt starting spot. That’s a close call, especially for a journeyman mid-level starter like Pachulia. But that’s still a decent margin in the grand scheme.
Carmelo Anthony, on the other hand, claimed the last starting spot among Eastern Conference frontcourt players over Pau Gasol by only 360 votes.
360!
That’s nothing. It’s one tweet by anyone somewhat prominent with the subsequent retweets. It’s one group of friends voting across the various mediums each day in a week.
It’s also – by far – the closest margin for starting in the history of NBA All-Star fan voting.
The next closest, A.C. Green over Karl Malone for Western Conference forward in 1990, had more than more than triple the margin.
Here are the 10 closest calls for starting the All-Star game:
| Race | Players | Voting difference |
| 2015 East Frontcourt | Carmelo Anthony over Pau Gasol | 360 |
| 1990 West Forward | A.C. Green over Karl Malone | 1,226 |
| 1984 West Center | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over Ralph Sampson | 1,817 |
| 1990 West Forward | A.C. Green over Xavier McDaniel | 2,029 |
| 1990 West Guard | John Stockton over Derek Harper | 2,562 |
| 2007 East Guard | Gilbert Arenas over Vince Carter | 3,010 |
| 1981 West Forward | Walter Davis over Alex English | 3,013 |
| 1975 East Guard | Earl Monroe over Jo Jo White | 3,291 |
| 1990 West Guard | John Stockton over Clyde Drexler | 3,766 |
| 1977 West Guard | Norm Van Lier over Slick Watts | 4,200 |