The second round of NBA All-Star Fan Voting Results have fallen, and the top four players are not surprising. Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić sit at the top, and rightly so. Three of the top vote-getters are in the MVP race, and if the Lakers were better, James would be too.
As a reminder, the fan vote represents 50 percent. Each player has one vote, and the player’s vote counts for 25 percent. The remaining 25 percent comes from a panel of media members.
There are some surprising results in the latest data dump. They include a champion who is disrespected, an MVP candidate who drags down an old guard, an old guard who is coming back to life, and two young stars who are blossoming.
Fan voting can become a popularity contest, but these players deserve more votes based on their on-court contributions this season.
Just over 362,000 votes separate Stephen Curry from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the latest fan vote released by the NBA. It looks like Curry will start in the All-Star Game against Gilgeous-Alexander, and that is an absolute mistake. SGA is having a sensational season for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gilgeous-Alexander is not only having an All-Star season and an All-NBA season, but he is also having an MVP-level season. He has the second best MVP rating on FanDuel behind Nikola Jokić. At the time of publication, the Thunder are tied for the best record in the Western Conference, and SGA is a big reason why.
Gilgeous-Alexander averages career highs help and the success percentage on the field. He is third in scoring, averaging 31.4 points per game. He also leads the league in shots per game with 22.6, meaning he relentlessly puts pressure on defenses by attacking the paint.
Fans are reflexively voting for Curry, but Gilgeous-Alexander needs a lot more votes and should be more of a fan favorite. He outperforms Curry, gets more rebounds and assists, and shoots a higher effective field goal percentage. SGA also gets to the free throw line more than Curry.
There’s no doubt that Curry is an All-Star, but Gilgeous-Alexander should be the starter ahead of him. At the very least, the margin should be much narrower than for a potential MVP.
It’s been a while since Kawhi Leonard was an All-Star, and this is the first season since he’s been in Los Angeles that he’s looked back to his best form. Please take a momentary break and touch wood to maintain good health.
Leonard has played more than 90 percent of the Clippers’ games this season, including back-to-back nights. He averages 23.9 points per game, shooting over 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. He’s just a few free throw percentage points away from being in the 50/40/90 club. Leonard went nuclear in December, marking 29.3 on shooting times of 61.3/50/95.7.
Besides this offensive explosion, Leonard has been an absolute monster on defense; some would even still call it the Klaw! LA has a defensive rating of 109.3 when Leonard is on the ground and 118.9 without him.
In this December run, the Clippers are considered real contenders.
Fans have forgotten who Kawhi is after all these years. It is currently at 1,056,405 votes; that’s not enough, especially considering everything he’s doing right now. A legitimate argument can be made that he should be an All-Star starter.
Do you remember everything The Anthony Edwards Hype over the summer while playing for the American team? Where did it go?
Minnesota’s star player got so few fan votes. Edwards sits behind Kyrie Irving and James Harden. He played 12 more games than Irving. His numbers are far superior to Harden’s.
Edwards has become the go-to player for the No. 1 team in the West. He is averaging a career high 25.8 points and 38.3 percent from three-point range. He has been Wolves’ best player this season.
Fans forgot about Edwards despite the fact that he put together strong moments in the evening and showed signs of jumping. He plays well on both ends of the court and that’s part of why Minnesota has the best defense in the NBA.
Here’s a sequence for those who need a refresher.
In the second drop in fan voting, there was one glaring omission from the top 10 guards in the Western Conference: Jamal Murray.
Fans didn’t vote for him as the best goaltender in the West, despite being the second-best player on a championship team a year ago and one of the favorites this year.
Murray scored 20.5 points and dished out 6.3 assists per game this season, shooting a career-best 41.6 percent. I’m not saying he should be an All-Star, but he deserves to be a top 10 guard in the West.
It’s easy to attribute the number of games Murray played (26) as the reason he’s not higher in the votes. It’s a big hit on his CV.
Kyrie Irving and Devin Booker missed numerous games and are on the list. Even Ja Morant, in his nine games played, was voted ahead of Murray.
You’d think Murray would get a bump after the Nuggets won the championship, but that hasn’t happened this season.
Playing Robin in Joel Embiid’s Batman, Tyrese Maxey blew up. He increased his scoring average by 20.3 at 26.1 points per night while dishing out 6.6 dimes. He was one of the stars of the NBA this season, but he received a million fan votes.
After trading James Harden, the Sixers didn’t miss a beat thanks to Maxey. Embiid is putting together another MVP-level season, but Maxey’s ascension has kept them in the contender conversation.
Maxey probably needs to do more to enter the conversation as a potential All-Star starter, but based on his play, he should at least get a million votes. He has already lost a game by 50 points and is capable of exploding every night.
Mo Dakhil spent six years with the Los Angeles Clippers and two years with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator, as well as three years with the Australian men’s national team. Follow him on Twitter, @MoDakhil_NBA.
