3.51 million votes—the most in NBA history.
He had been the All-Star voting leader for three consecutive years, becoming the fourth player in NBA history to achieve that feat.
Those two honors alone were already great enough.
What's more, Link was a forward, meaning he had to compete against several others for votes.
To receive 3.51 million votes under those circumstances, in Stephen A. Smith's words, "was nothing short of a miracle!"
Link's immense popularity had already made him a bona fide superstar.
The truth was, being polite, well-spoken, and a nice guy were not labels fans particularly loved.
Whether it was Jordan, Bird, James, or Kobe, their popularity exploded because they could win—not because they were polite!
And now, Link and the Grizzlies were undoubtedly the best winning team in the entire league.
When Grit and Grind both went down, people thought the Grizzlies would enter a slump. But Link immediately silenced everyone with a two-game winning streak.
When Adam Silver saw Link become the NBA's all-time All-Star voting leader, he no longer felt awkward. After all, he had grown accustomed to Link breaking league records one after another.
Now, Silver could only hope that next season's new voting rules would produce a fresh new face for the league.
News of Link breaking the All-Star voting record and leading All-Star voting for three straight years flooded the basketball world.
Everyone was talking about Link, and everyone marveled at his dominance.
T.N.T. even produced a midseason regular-season recap show from Link's perspective.
"Thirty wins and six losses—the Memphis Grizzlies once again held firmly onto the top spot in the West. I know the Grizzlies have finished first in the West for two consecutive seasons. You've probably gotten used to where they are now and think being first in the West