7 takeaways from round two of NBA All-Star voting
TACKO FALL AND ALEX CARUSO ARE CLIMBING.
Do you hear that? Ah, yes. It’s the sweet, sweet sound of internet chaos. Round two of NBA All-Star voting is in and everyone is just as mad as they were the first go around.
For those of us who love to watch Twitter burn? This is great. For everyone else? All-Star voting is a complete sham. A popularity contest. Do away with the fan vote.
If we’re being honest here, they’re probably right. But that’s also the beauty of the fan vote. It’s chaos!
Here’s a look at how the second round of voting has gone so far. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Once again, remember, fan voting doesn’t end until January 20. Player voting (25%) and media panel voting (25%) make up the other half of the vote for starters. The reserves will be chosen by NBA coaches.
In other words, this isn’t how the team is going to look. There’s still a big chance for your favorite player to land on the All-Star team.
In the meantime, though, here are seven takeaways from the NBA’s totally chaotic second go-round of All-Star voting.
LeBron James is king again…
After falling down to third in the first round of All-Star voting, LeBron James has jumped up to first overall with 3,359,871 total votes. Luka Doncic is second with 3,277,870 and Giannis Antetokounmpo is third with 3,259,383.
Alright, look y’all. I’ll say it. Look, James is great. We get it. But THIS IS BORING.
Give us Team Doncic and Team Antetokounmpo. It’s time for the torch to be passed. Just once, it’d be nice to see James be human. Have him drafted with all of the other run-of-the-mill All-Stars. Could you imagine James being drafted as not the number one pick in an All-Star draft? DRAMA.
This is what we need. For the love of everything chaotic in the NBA, vote Doncic and Antetokounmpo.
Trae Young is still the leading guard in the East
TRAE YOUNG HIVE STAND UP! The Hawks guard leads all Eastern Conference guards with 1,389,628 votes.
We do not care that Young plays for the worst team in the NBA. We do not care that he can’t play a lick of defense. We don’t even care that we don’t fully know what’s going on with his hairline.
All we know is that he’s probably the most fun player to watch in basketball right now. That’s all that matters, numbers aside. All-Star games are about fun. This vote is correct.
Tacko Fall!? ALEX CARUSO!?!? CLIMBING!?!?
YUP. THAT’S RIGHT.
We’re doing it, y’all. We’re really going to make Tacko Fall and Alex Caruso All-Stars. We had no idea this was possible, yet here we are being incredibly dumb and incredibly great all at one time.
Tacko Fall has 543,352 votes. Alex Caruso moved up to sixth among all West guards. Objectively speaking, this is incorrect. But if this is incorrect, then what’s the actual point in being right?
This is great. Bald Mamba forever. Tacko Fall forever.
Carmelo Anthony is going to get that legacy spot
Anthony isn’t going to be a starter and that’s fine. But the fans want to see him in this game — that’s clear. He’s still sitting at 8th in the West’s front court voting and has been a pretty fun story this year.
We’ve got to get him in that same legacy spot that went to Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade last year. It makes too much sense.
Kyrie Irving knows what’s good
Kyrie Irving has been injured for most of the season and still has the second most votes as a guard in the East with 1,351,997 votes.
It’s hard to condone a dude who has missed 70% of his teams games so far being an All-Star starter. But, like Young, Kyrie Irving is just incredibly fun in an All-Star game. And he knows it, too.
…. Fair enough.
At the same time, Spencer Dinwiddie is being disrespected
We have to do better. Spencer Dinwiddie appeared in the first returns for the vote with 94,618 votes. Now, he’s nowhere to be found. He’s been replaced at the 10th spot with Fred VanVleet.
With all due respect to VanVleet, Dinwiddie has been flat out better this season. Hopefully, the players and media do him some justice.
What year is it again?
Because if you look at the voting too quickly you might think it’s 2010.
Derrick Rose is fourth at guard in the East with 918,550 votes and Dwight Howard is 10th in the West front court with 390,037 votes thanks to that Lakers bump.
Two years ago, this being a thing was laughable. Now? It’s…well…still pretty laughable. Yet, here we are.
Yup. We’re definitely living in a simulation.