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Justin Bieber’s Tweet Helps Kyle Lowry Become All-Star Starter

Mickey Hanley Contributor
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Love him or hate him, Justin Bieber is a pop culture icon, and over the course of four days, his army of Beliebers stuffed the NBA’s proverbial ballot box to make Kyle Lowry a starter in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game.

According to Bleacher Report, Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry trailed the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade by about 100,000 votes, a seemingly impregnable deficit, at the start of the week. On Thursday, the NBA announced the starters for February’s upcoming all-star game. Lowry edged Wade by about 15,000 votes.

Who or what was responsible for Lowry’s surge in the polls? As it turns out, a certain Canadian celebrity had a hand in it. On Monday, Bieber tweeted his support for Lowry and asked his fans to vote for him.

Bieber failed to provide voting instructions, but there was an undeniable surge in Lowry’s votes following Bieber’s request, as reported by LarryBrownSports.com. Of course, it is impossible to measure exactly how many votes came from Beliebers, but it is unlikely that Toronto fans shifted the vote on their own.

While the Bieber Bump certainly helped Lowry, do not let this take anything away from Lowry’s performance so far this season. Lowry is on pace for career-highs in points and assists, and he has been crucial to the Raptors’ success this season. The Raptors currently sit at third in the Eastern Conference.

The 64th NBA All-Star Game will take place at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Feb. 15.