Recent NBA All-Star Voting Shows New Conference Leaders

As the NBA All-Star game’s voting process continues, the second wave of returns was released on Thursday. 

In the Western Conference frontcourt results, LeBron James leads the pack with over 4.3M votes, followed by Nikola Jokic (3M), Kawhi Leonard (2.5M), and Anthony Davis (2.3M). 

In the backcourt, the top spot goes to Stephen Curry (4M), followed by Luka Doncic (2.5M), Damian Lillard (2.1M), and Donovan Mitchell (500K). The Eastern conference frontcourt voting stations Kevin Durant at the number one spot (4.2M), with Giannis Antetokumpo (3.3M), Joel Embiid (3M), and Jayson Tatum (1.6M) not far behind. 

As for the backcourt, the East favors Bradley Beal (2.5M) for first place. Behind him? Kyrie Irving (2.1M), James Harden (1.8M), and Jaylen Brown (1.1M). 

In the NBA Top 10 Rankings, the West seems to have a more concentrated frontcourt distribution of votes, with nearly every spot having more than their Eastern counterparts. This likely means that the Eastern forwards seem to be more boasting a more versatile vote distribution than the West, notably with their forwards. Likely due to the well-established presence of many Western forwards like LeBron James, fans seem to have already made up their mind in the Western Conference. 

This contrasts with the East, where members of the top 10 frontcourt selections have lower voter quantities than the West, showing the East’s depth in that area, as the forward selection is clearly more controversial. 

Similarly, Stephen Curry is showing a clear dominance over the Western Guard counterparts, with a 1.5M voter lead over the #2 selection in Luka Doncic, and Donovan Mitchell’s low voter count of 500K at the 4th spot shows the disparity within the Western Conference NBA guards and the power that Stephen Curry holds.  

Kevin Durant and LeBron James earn the top two voters thus far, which is relatively unsurprising. More surprising, however, is Beal taking the number one spot for the guards, a position which he deserves, although Washington’s poor performance has overshadowed his performances during the NBA season. 

Additionally, Jerami Grant (DET) takes the number ten slot in the Eastern forwards, and Fred Vanvleet (TOR) holds it for the Eastern Guards. Although it’s unlikely that we’ll see them make the team, it’s nice to see underrated NBA players like Grant earn recognition.