It’s almost that time of year, folks! The NBA All-Star game is creeping up on us. We’re just over a month out from the universal “halfway point” of the NBA season.
With that in mind, the league decided to give us a look at the early returns on NBA All-Star voting this season.
Of course, there were some surprises there. Klay Thompson sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference for guards was pretty shocking considering the season he’s had. Plus, there were more than a few snubs that were a bit confounding.
There are some things you’d absolutely expect, too. LeBron James leading the West is the main thing, of course. Here’s a look, via The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Lakers’ LeBron James and Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo lead the NBA’s first 2023-24 All-Star fan voting return: pic.twitter.com/PuLC37lMFN
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 4, 2024
Here are five major takeaways that we had from the voting totals so far. Let’s dive in.
No love for Devin Booker
It’s a bit early to talk about snubs considering this isn’t the final roster, but it does feel strange to see Austin Reaves and Klay Thompson receiving more votes than Devin Booker who didn’t make the initial list at all.
Like, folks. Devin Booker couldn’t get 170,000 All-Star votes? That’s wild. Some fans out there thought so, too.
we got sum Austin Reaves and Klay Thompson getting more all star votes than Devin Booker dawg this is unacceptable https://t.co/Zzfnl9WaFV pic.twitter.com/4Zt8dq96SG
— A ✩ (@adryanashton) January 4, 2024
Sounds like it’s time to get those votes in.
Giannis Antetokounmpo — not LeBron James — is the leading vote-getter so far
This will probably wind up changing toward the end as more votes trickle in, but as things stand it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and not LeBron James who has received the most All-Star votes so far.
Giannis has 2.1 million. LeBron is just a bit over 2 million. It’s not a wide margin and can certainly change, but that’s pretty surprising to see.
The rookies!
Both Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are seeing a solid amount of votes so far in early returns.
Wemby has 220k votes and Holmgren is just a smidge behind him with only 180k. Neither will be voted in as starters. However, it’s still pretty impressive that they’re mentioned at all here.
The Derrick White All-Star campaign might be working?
Fans in and outside of Boston have been campaigning for Derrick White to make the All-Star team this year.
We’ve seen JJ Redick making the case for White to get some consideration this season.
.@jj_redick on why Derrick White deserves consideration for the All-Star Game 👇 pic.twitter.com/KWRE8RCKZz
— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) December 28, 2023
Celtics fans have also shown their support for the campaign with actual chants inside the arena.
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) January 1, 2024
Whatever they’re doing, it’s working! White has nearly 176k votes so far in early returns.
Speaking of the Celtics...
I’m not sure if you noticed, but there were actually five (!!!!) Celtics who made an appearance in the early returns for All-Star voting this year.
Along with the aforementioned Derrick White the list also includes Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. All five of them aren’t making the team, but there’s a solid chance that at least three of them do. That’s extremely impressive.
The In-Season Tournament bump is real
Tyrese Haliburton has nearly 1.4 million All-Star votes so far which leads Eastern Conference guards by far.
It’s well-deserved — Haliburton has been the best point guard in the NBA so far this season. But these vote totals put him in the same sentence as names like Stephen Curry (1.39 million votes) and Luka Doncic (1.45 million votes) who are two of the NBA’s most popular players.
Haliburton being on a national stage put him in the same space for fans as some of the league’s most popular players. The In-Season Tournament worked.
There are considerably less votes in total so far
This is a bit too messy to make any sort of declaration off of but, in general, there seem to be fewer All-Star votes going around for the players this season.
This year, for example, LeBron James barely eclipsed 2 million votes on the first returns. But the season before both he and Kevin Durant had 3.1 million votes by January 5.
LeBron James and Kevin Durant lead their respective conferences in the first fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
The next fan update is Jan. 12. pic.twitter.com/osVeUGI8H4
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 5, 2023
But the year prior the data from the 2021-22 season for the 75th anniversary All-Star game shows that things are probably currently more in line with what they’re supposed to be.
Here’s a look at the voting from then.
Golden State's Stephen Curry and Brooklyn's Kevin Durant lead the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, in the first fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting presented by Tissot.
The next NBA All-Star fan voting update will be shared Thursday, Jan. 13. pic.twitter.com/B0kSITw4Sr
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 6, 2022
The difference is unclear. It’s probably not a huge deal. But I just thought it was something worth mentioning here.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how the voting pans out down the stretch.
