Everybody loves Kyle Lowry, or at least so it seems after the Toronto Raptors point guard made a late surge in NBA All Star voting to make the starting squad. The last Raptor to be an All Star-starter was Chris Bosh back in 2008. In a sports town that's short on true superstars, it's exciting to see the 28 year old get this level of recognition, even if social media popularity played a role in his selection.

Lowry received Twitter votes from personalities as diverse as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Justin Bieber. Too bad the latter botched his endorsement, and ultimately didn't help Lowry at all. Oh, Biebs. That might be a good thing, though -- it's clear that Lowry's vote total of 805,290 has as much to do with his talent and leadership as it does with social media campaigns to get him on the team.

The Leafs might be depressing as hell right now, but the Raptors are playing exciting basketball, led by Kyle Lowry, the fifth member of the team in franchise history to be selected to the All Star team.

Photo via dimemag