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Pelton: Google Search Data Suggests Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge Is NBA's "Most Obscure" All-Star

Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge is the NBA's most obscure star according to one sample of Google search data.

Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider) studied google search data to determine which NBA All-Stars generate the most interest on the internet. Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge winds up last.

To measure player attention this season, I pulled both overall and news searches from the start of training camp until now for each of this year's All-Stars (both against the standard of peak [LeBron] James searches), then averaged the two categories. That shows another star aging gracefully, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, as far and away the league's most searched player.

...

There's an imperfect relationship between 2012-13 performance and Google searches among All-Stars, at least when Bryant and James are left out. [Tim] Duncan is the biggest negative outlier -- the star-caliber player flying lowest under the radar this year. He's not alone. Here are the rest of the 10 All-Stars receiving the least attention relative to their play.

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By this measure, Aldridge is the league's most obscure All-Star. When compared to the other players with a score of 1 ([Jrue] Holiday, [Zach] Randolph and Luol Deng), Aldridge has the lowest Google trend rank of the group.

Aldridge finished 11th among West Frontcourt players in All-Star voting this season.

Thanks to GetOver in the FanShots.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter