NBA releases All-Star voting, and there’s not a Spur in sight

Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images

Not that anyone should be too surprised…

The NBA has released the latest round of fan All-Star voting, and there aren’t any Spurs in the top ten of the West so far.

Of course, that shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone considering how voters look at the Spurs; they generally expect more from them than a losing record, plus disappointed Spurs fans probably aren’t out voting in full force. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t nitpick a bit.

Although LaMarcus Aldridge had a slow start to the season. he has been coming on strong lately. While I definitely understand him not being among the ranks of the players who will be All-Stars, I’d argue he’s more deserving of votes than Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard: two over-the-hill former stars riding feel-good, “return to prominence” stories after a few years of wandering the wilderness. They are both playing decently and experiencing a resurgence, but they aren’t better than Aldridge.

As for DeMar DeRozan, he’s having the most efficient season of his career, but it’s still unsurprising that he doesn’t stand out in the West’s deep pool of front court players. That being said, this is where fan voting has its flaws. Stephen Curry has only played in 4 games and is out for the season. He shouldn’t even be on the ballet, but that’s not how fan voting works. Although he’s putting up the best numbers of his career, D’Angelo Russell and was an All-Star in the East last season, is probably riding the Warriors wave a bit himself considering its pretty rare for the worst team in the conference two have two All-Stars.

Alex Caruso is another interesting name to be getting votes ahead of DeRozan, but that’s life as a Laker and LeBron James’ favorite sidekick. (Don’t get me wrong: as an Aggie I love Caruso and always dreamed that the Spurs would give him a shot due to his Manu-esque basketball IQ, court vision, and hustle.)

The other surprise is over in the East, with giant Celtics rookie Tacko Fall coming in sixth for the front court despite having only appeared in three games and played a grand total of 11 minutes for his career so far. He definitely has his own following pumping in the votes.

The next fan vote update will be released Jan. 9. As a reminder, the fan votes only count for 50 percent of determining who starts in the All-Star Game. Players and the media votes as well, with each counting for 25 percent of the say.

NBA releases All-Star voting, and there’s not a Spur in sight
NBA releases All-Star voting, and there’s not a Spur in sight