Its All Star Time!!
With the return of the first fan voting cycle for the NBA’s 2019 All-star game, we are beginning to see the full picture of who will get their first or a return all-star appearance. While following the announcement on social media I noticed a number of NBA fans in a slight uproar over who was getting votes and more importantly, why. So I decided to take a closer look and give my opinion with the hopes it will help readers make an informed decision on who to vote for.
First, it’s important to remember that fan voting only accounts for half of “Starter” – all-star voting. While the media and players each count for a quarter of the remaining all-star votes. The final selection for the all-star game will take place on Jan, 24th and reserves will be announced on Jan, 31st. Secondly, most fans don’t do the research required to know who really deserves to be an all-star, rather they vote for who plays for their home team, or simply who they currently like. This approach can lead to some picks that make you scratch your head and think …”What?” A good example of this would be the 2016 all-star voting ballots that had Zaza Pachulia finish 4th on the frontcourt all-star list just behind Kawhi Leonard and just before players like Draymond Green and Blake Griffin. This was due to a combination of his hometown support and nba players “trolling” the warriors due to their feelings of anger toward the super team. With that being said let’s look at this years list and analyze who deserves to be there and who got the Zaza vote.
2018- 2019 East coast All-star Nominees
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL), 991,561 votes
- Kyrie Irving (BOS), 910,329 votes
- Kawhi Leonard (TOR), 774,172 votes
- Joel Embiid (PHI), 648,002 votes
- Dwyane Wade (MIA), 409,156 votes
- Kemba Walker (CHA), 319,519 votes
- Ben Simmons (PHI), 259,993 votes
- Jimmy Butler (PHI), 222,206 votes
- Jayson Tatum (BOS), 214,622 votes
- Victor Oladipo (IND), 198,009 votes
- Blake Griffin (DET), 192,694 votes
- Kyle Lowry (TOR), 180,571 votes
- Zach LaVine (CHI), 128,605 votes
- Vince Carter (ATL) , 76,022 votes
- Andre Drummond (DET), 68,204 votes
- Gordon Hayward (BOS), 66,492 votes
- Jeremy Lin (ATL), 62,573 votes
- Al Horford (BOS), 62,288 votes
- Bradley Beal (WAS), 61,269 votes
- John Wall (WAS), 54,366 votes
2018-2019 West coast All-star Nominees
- LeBron James (LAL), 1,083,363 votes
- Stephen Curry (GSW), 793,111 votes
- Derrick Rose (MIN), 698,086 votes
- Luka Dončić (DAL), 679,839 votes
- Kevin Durant (GSW), 659,968 votes
- Anthony Davis (NOP), 605,417 votes
- Paul George (OKC), 580,055 votes
- James Harden (HOU), 541,606 votes
- Russell Westbrook (OKC), 459,792 votes
- Steven Adams (OKC), 261,327 votes
- Klay Thompson (GSW), 247,618 votes
- Nikola Jokić (DEN), 235,272 votes
- Damian Lillard (POR), 200,609 votes
- DeMar DeRozan (SAS), 197,524 votes
- Kyle Kuzma (LAL), 195,477 votes
- Lonzo Ball (LAL), 175,040 votes
- Draymond Green (GSW), 138,017 votes
- Devin Booker (PHO), 111,897 votes
- Chris Paul (HOU), 101,104 votes
- DeMarcus Cousins (GSW), 92,977 votes
As you can see Los Angeles Lakers’ Lebron James and Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo are your top vote-getters in their respective conferences. While Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors are your top guard vote-getters. The all-star game consists of twelve players and two replacements in case a player is injured so that means we best exclude eight players. Doing this is easier for the east coast then than the west so let’s start there.
The hardest way to exclude players would be by only using statistics since every player considered is usually the star of their team. So I also exclude players based on their team’s success or lack thereof. With that in mind, I would have to pull Zach Lavine, John Wall and Bradley Beal. Al Horford and Gordon Hayward would also have to get pulled from the list due to a weaker statical line than their peers. The last three that get pulled from the east are because they’re the infamous Zaza pick. Those people would be Dwayne Wade, Vince Carter and Jeremy Lin. This means our 2018-2019 eastern all stars should be:
1.Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Kyrie Irving
- Joel Embid
- Blake Griffin
- Kawhi Leonard
- Kemba Walker
- Kyle Lowry
- Andre Drummond
- Jayson Tatum
- Jimmy Butler
- Victor Oladipo
- Ben Simmons
The western conference is historically more competitive than the east, so naturally, you’re bound to have more Snubs and less Zaza picks with all-star voting. When excluding players due to lack of team success Derrick Rose, Luka Dončić, Devin Booker, and Anthony Davis get pulled from all star contention. Both Lonzo ball and Draymond Green would get pulled due to a lack of statistical success compared to their peers. Although Chris Paul is one of the greatest point guards to play the game he wouldn’t make the All-Star team because of injury. The last person that would get pulled from the list of the potential western conference all stars, and the infamous Zaza pick, would be DeMarcus Cousins. You know the guy who hasn’t played a game all year. So our list of the western conference all stars is as follows:
- Lebron James
- Kevin Durant
- Paul George
- Steph Curry
- Russell Westbrook
- James Harden
- Damian Lillard
- Nikola Jokić
- Steven Adams
- DeMar DeRozan
- Klay Thompson
- Kyle Kuzma
If you don’t have the people on our list don’t worry you have time to get it right. NBA all star fan voting doesn’t end until the 21st of January. All star weekend this year will take place on February 15-17 and will take place in Charlotte N.C. So let’s get that vote right and remember you read it here first on Millennial Muse Sports.
