Earlier today, the NBA released the fan voting numbers for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game as of right now. These are the second returns of the fan votes thus far.
Surely there are some surprises here as plenty of names should probably be receiving more votes, while others shouldn’t be as high as they currently sit. As of right now, the All-Star Game starting lineups with two guards and three frontcourt players for each conference would look as follows:
East:
G: Kyrie Irving
G: Dwyane Wade
F: Giannis Antetokounmpo
F: LeBron James
F: Kevin Love
West:
G: Stephen Curry
G: James Harden
F: Kawhi Leonard
F: Kevin Durant
F: Zaza Pachulia
Both lineups haven’t changed from when the NBA released the first returns of the fan votes a week ago. Though you may think these lineups are odd, which they certainly are, the fan vote accounts for only 50 percent of the All-Star voting system while the other half is split between player and media votes.
Obviously, the biggest surprise here is, once again, Zaza Pachulia potentially being in the all-star game, let alone in the starting lineup out West. However, we saw this already this year and last season, as Pachulia has quite the following in his home country of Georgia.
Both the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers boast three starters as of right now. Despite the relevance of Pachulia in the all-star voting so far, there are also other interesting results.
In the Eastern Conference, it’s hard to believe that Dwyane Wade should be a starting guard over the likes of John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, DeMar DeRozan, and Kyle Lowry. As for the frontcourt, it’s certainly reasonable to think Chicago’s Jimmy Butler should be a starter though Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Love are certainly deserving in their own right.
In the West, the absence of Russell Westbrook from the starting lineup is certainly surprising after the ridiculous numbers he’s thrown up on a nightly basis this season. All that being said, there’s a strong chance we see the lineups for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game shaken up with fan voting still open and the media/player votes upcoming.
