It looks at how the NBA attempts to weed out what could be considered "fraudulent" voting activity -- bots for instance -- but also takes an interesting look at where different players' votes were distributed.
ESPN employed the help of "social media intelligence firm Graphika, which monitors, categorizes and maps social media traffic for public and private clients" to sift through "more than 5 million tweets."
Turns out, Justin Bieber's influence has purpose. He almost single-handedly helped Chris Paul get a nod.
Some players like Kevin Durant relied heavily on their team's fanbase. Joel Embiid's social media savvy, on the other hand, is so darn on point that he got votes from all corners of the Internet, not just from Sixers fans.
ESPN's praise of JoJo is great:
Philadelphia 76ers
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia 76ers and their rivals in the NBA from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS CENTER and social media darling Joel Embiid is inventing new and better ways to connect with fans. Graphika found that Embiid's aggressive and colorful Twitter campaign to drum up support for his All-Star candidacy created a robust group of digital followers that is unlike other NBA stars. For instance, Kevin Durant's online votes came largely from Warriors fans, but Embiid received love from 76ers fans, Eagles fans and Jayhawks fans as well as social activists and many others. A full 84 percent of the accounts supporting Embiid were from communities outside of the local Philly sports scene, including national pro and college sports fans as well as music and entertainment fans.
"This is who you want to be," Kelly said after examining Embiid's results. "This is the picture of success."
We've anecdotally known JoJo's social media presence has been great for a long time. It's fascinating to read about the data that goes along with it.
Here are just a sampling of the Tweets that helped reach a bigger audience.
Eagles fans:
@cj_wentz #NBAVote Joel Embiid pic.twitter.com/HJhjkVNBOM— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 13, 2017
Joel Embiid #NBAVote In the process I trust!— Jordan Matthews (@jmattjmattjmatt) January 12, 2017
.@cj_wentz showin' that brotherly love. 🙌🏼#NBAVote Joel Embiid pic.twitter.com/yczoNwlkAY— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 14, 2017
Hip hop fans:
EVERYBODY NEEDS TO VOTE FOR THE PROCESS @JoelEmbiid TO BE AN ALL STAR. He's so good. He's also very nice and funny. #superstar #nbavote— Davey Wavey (@lildickytweets) January 5, 2017
Get my boy @JoelEmbiid into the 2017 @NBAAllStar Game in New Orleans. Retweet to vote! #NBAVOTE @Sixers #NBAAllStar #nba— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) January 8, 2017
Baseball fans:
Joel Embiid #NBAVOTE— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) January 12, 2017
Wrestling fans:
I learned this by watching you, @TripleH
Is the @WWE ready for The Process?
Joel Embiid #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/Ioya5CYpnU— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 12, 2017
To play the game you gotta go through The Process ... #NBAVote https://t.co/PzD3Qa46H6— Triple H (@TripleH) January 13, 2017
Still have to perfect the water-to-spit ratio...Not bad for a first attempt. #MopTheFloor#NBAVote Joel Embiid https://t.co/mjaNcStuZt— Triple H (@TripleH) January 14, 2017
#NBAVote Joel Embiid with the @TripleH @WWE entrance 😳🤘🏼 pic.twitter.com/6YHE2AyF2n— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 14, 2017
Nerds:
I wonder who @samhinkie is gonna vote for All Star.. Gotta do it for the culture
Joel Embiid #NBAVote— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 10, 2017
I got you
See you in NOLA
Joel Embiid #NBAVote https://t.co/grCPULyDcH— Sam Hinkie (@samhinkie) January 10, 2017