You want K-pop fans on your side.
It appears the Golden State Warriors and Andrew Wiggins are benefiting from having just that.
The NBA on Thursday announced starters for the 2022 All-Star Game, and rather questionably, the 26-year-old was listed along with Warriors teammate Stephan Curry. There was some funny reactions to this by bewildered basketball fans, but there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation why some deserving players got snubbed in favor of Wiggins.
Sure, he’s amid a career-best season, but BamBam is behind him, too.
The Warriors strategically partnered with BamBam, a member of the popular Korean boy band GOT7, to be one of the club’s global partners. Leading up to the All-Star game voting, the encouraged 24 million followers across Twitter and Instagram to help Wiggins and Curry make All-Star teams.
Apparently that will do it.
How much impact could that have had? Well, as noted by SF Gate’s Alex Shulz, that Tweet got more engagement than of other All-Star endorsement — aside from another BamBam tweet about Curry.
Fan votes ultimately count for 50% of the final tally, with a remaining 50% split between coach and media votes.
The model might be worth criticism, but the Warriors are taking advantage of the chaos.