The NBA announced slightly new voting procedures for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game on Thursday. Here are some notes to keep in mind.
Voting timeline
- Dec. 21 (1 p.m.) – Dec. 25: Voting opens on the NBA app and NBA.com only
- Dec. 25 (11 a.m.) – Jan. 15: Voting opens on social media and for some reason, via Alexa
- There are five “2-for-1” days where votes count double: Dec. 31, Jan. 4, Jan. 11, Jan. 12 and Jan. 15
- Jan. 18 – starters revealed on TNT
- Jan. 23 – reserves revealed on TNT
- Jan. 25 – rosters revealed on a one-hour TNT special (sadly, the actual team selection won’t be televised)
- Feb. 18 – the All-Star Game takes place in L.A.
How to vote
- NBA.com and NBA app – fill out a ballot
- Facebook and Twitter – ONE player’s FULL name with #NBAVote (you can vote for 10 unique players per day; RTs count as votes)
- Google – if you search “NBA Vote All-Star” ballots will come up
- Alexa – no, seriously
- Weibo and Tencent – go to China.NBA.com/vote
How voting works
- Fan vote counts for 50% of the vote for starters
- Media (25%) and Player (25%) votes count for the remainder
- Coaches select the reserves
- 12 players from each conference make the All-Star game, then teams will be determined by a pair of captains (the highest vote-getter in each conference) rather than going East vs. West
Raptors
- Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have each made three of the last four All-Star Games, each has started one game, and both have made the team in consecutive years
- Both have a strong case for inclusion again this year, though Lowry’s might be hurt by more modest counting stats (his impact stats are still All-Star level)
- We’ll explore their cases when voting actually opens up, likely in early January
- Chris Bosh and Vince Carter share the franchise record with five All-Star appearances each
We’ll shoot a reminder out when voting opens next Thursday. Have a wonderful day.
