NBA All Star: First Wave of Results Are In

NBA stars have their eyes set on Toronto for the All Star game in February.By Ryan RodriguezOn December 25th, the NBA released the first returns of the fan votes which picks the starters for the Associations mid season exhibition game. People always get up in arms about the fans not picking the exact 10 best players fromt he current season, but if you take a step back and realize that all this game is is an exhibition, you can see why it doesn’t matter who they pick. In the end, this game is about fun and letting the fans pick who gets to start, is part of the fun and the NBA understands that. Even if the fans sometimes pick players who aren’t totally deserving, which we will get into in the slides that follow, forcing players at the ends of the All Star conversation to miss out, the best of the best do get in and that is what matters most. With only about one month left to vote, we will no doubt see a few names moving around, but usually the people that start out at the top stay there through the duration of the voting. Now lets dive into what the first release looks like.

#1 Kobe leads the votes

Kobe is currently the leading All Star vote getter in the NBA.

Lets get this out of the way immediately. Once Kobe announced he was retiring at the end of the season, it was a lock that he would be the leading vote getter and be a starter in the All Star game for the West. Its unfortunate for someone like Kawhi Leonard, currently 4^thin the Western Conference frontcourt voting, who has emerged as a legit MVP candidate while Kobe slogs through his worst season to date, but Kawhi will have other opportunities to start All Star games.

What is a little surprising about Kobes votes is he is the leading vote getter in the entire NBA (719,235), otherwise known as more than LeBron James and Kevin Durant combined. Anyone who has watched the Lakers this season know that Kobe isnt playing anywhere close to All Star level, though he has picked up his play of late to a respectable abiltiy, but this is more to celebrate a surefire first ballot Hall of Fame career. What I hope happens is Kobe is voted in as a starter as a lifetime achievement type of award, and then commissioner Adam Silver steps in and adds a 13^thspot to the West All Star roster. Then Kobe gets in but doesnt really take one of the 12 spots on the team from a deserving player.

#2 Head scratchers

Dwyane Wade (red) and Kyrie Irving are the surprising leaders for the backcourt spots in the East.

The first truly head scratching decisions in the voting process come in when you take a look at the Eastern Conference guards, as the current leaders are Dwyane Wade (300,595) and Kyrie Irving (138,191). While Wade has had a pretty strong season for the Miami Heat so far, currently sitting tied for 3^rdin the conference, he has not quite put up the stats or played the minutes that scream he should be leading the Easts guards by 150,000 votes. He no doubt has the push of being a consistent All Star and playing his whole career for a fan base that loves him, but I think the fans could do better with this vote.

The even more egregious voting result is Kyrie Irving being the second guard for the East. Yes, that Kyrie Irving who has played a grand total of three games for the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Kyrie had played the whole season, I would have no complaints as hes shown he is more than worthy of an All Star nod with his play in years past, but he hasnt even played this season. Thereare several deserving guards, Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler and John Wall to name a few who should be leading the voting. With a month to go, lets hope Lowry, 10,000 votes behind, or Butler, 27,000 votes back, can jump Irving and restore order.

#3 Personal complaints

Draymond will no doubt be hot if Blake Griffin gets a starting nod over him and so will I.

The Golden State Warriors are currently sitting at 28-1, best start in league history. That is a fact. I believe that should merit them getting two starters in the All Star game. That is an opinion. We already know Stephen Curry, currently the most popular player in the league amongst fans, will be voted in as a starter barring some unforseen circumstance, but the Dubs resident second best player should be announced their with him. As it stands right now, Draymond Green (160,350) is fifth in the front court voting for the West, behind Blake Griffin in third (182,107) and Kawhi Leonard in fourth (164,521).

Draymond doesnt put up the scoring stats that usually help you get that starting nod, but he does literally does everything else on the basketball court at such a high level. I mean, he currently leads the Warriors and all forwards in assists with over seven a game. And he might be the most versatile defender in the league, able to guard 1-5 at an above average level. Between him and the two guys above him, two will be left out with Kobe guaranteed one of the starting spots and Kevin Durant surely holding down the other. And while Kawhi has been slightly better than Dray and Blake, I think the team accomplishments the Warriors are putting up should actually push Dray into the starting spot.

#4 Western Conference Backcourt

Steph Curry is good and he knows it.

With an almost 250,000 vote lead over the second place vote getter and a 360,000 vote lead over the third place person, the Warriors Stephen Curry is about as surefire as starter after Kobe as you can get. And rightfully so, as he has been the best player in the league this season and there really isn’t a close second place to him.

Curry took his MVP level game from last season and upped it to a historically great MVP season currently.

He sometimes turns an actual game into his own personal exhibition making his game the perfect match for the glorified pick up game the NBA All Star game is. He might hit a jumper from halfcourt in February.

Russell Westbrook comes in comfortably at second place in the voting, and that is right where he should be. He isn’t on Steph’s level this season, but he has been by far the second best guard in the West.

Chris Paul might finally be showing some signs of wear and tear, as his statistical and team production is quite on par with what it has been in the past, while Russ has found a good balance between his all out attacking game he displayed last season with Kevin Durant out and distributing the ball to Durant and the other Thunder players on the floor.

#5 Eastern Frontcourt is Perfect

Paul George (blue) and LeBron James will should definitely start for the East.

If you were to construct a roster for a team, with skill sets that work so well together, I’m not sure you could do a better job than the voters have done with the Eastern Conference frontcourt starters. Leading the way, naturally, is LeBron James, who continues to exhibit his all around dominance, despite him no longer being a lock to shoot above 50% from the field.

He would be the ball handler/low post scorer for this frontcourt, while Paul George would take care of the secondary ball handling and be the marksman outside waiting for LeBron’s kick out pass on the pick and roll.

For the rim protector and alley oop big man job, you have Andre Drummond in the third slot. You really would be hard pressed to find another squard that is made better.

And the best part of these three being the leading vote getters is they have also been the three best frontcourt players in the East this season. It rarely works out like this, but as the West backcourt has shaken out exactly like you would want it to, so has the East frontcourt. The only player in danger of falling out of the top three is Drummond, who only holds a 16,000 vote lead over 4th place Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony holds the name cache over Drummond, but if Andre keeps throwing up 20/20 games, he should be fine.

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