The NBA released the first returns for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game voting on Thursday, and it’s good news for one Toronto Raptors player.
DeMar DeRozan ranks second among Eastern Conference guards in votes. DeRozan is well behind Kyrie Irving, who is lapping every other East guard, and is only narrowly ahead of Victor Oladipo. Ben Simmons, Dwyane Wade, and John Wall are all firmly within striking distance, too, so there’s plenty of voting work to be done by Jan. 15.
In a bit of a new twist, Kyle Lowry only comes in at eighth for East guards. DeRozan has generally done better than Lowry in the fan vote and is having a better statistical season so far, but Lowry appearing so low – behind an absent Isaiah Thomas, with half the votes of Wade – is surprising given that the Raptors have campaigned for both as a duo, that he’s a three-time All-Star, and that most of his advanced metrics are holding up at an All-Star level despite smaller counting stats this year. It appears if Lowry is to make it a third consecutive game in which both Raptors guards are represented, he’ll either need a massive push in the fan voting the next 11 days, a huge show of support from the media and players votes, or to be added via the seven spots voted on by the East’s coaches.
Here are the entire voting totals for the East:
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1 Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 863,416
2 LeBron James (CLE) 856,080
3 Joel Embiid (PHI) 433,161
4 Kristaps Porzingis (NYK) 359,459
5 Kevin Love (CLE) 221,969
6 Al Horford (BOS) 120,016
7 Jayson Tatum (BOS) 98,586
8 Andre Drummond (DET) 85,374
9 Enes Kanter (NYK) 83,102
10 Dwight Howard (CHA) 57,730
Guards
1 Kyrie Irving (BOS) 802,834
2 DeMar DeRozan (TOR) 259,368
3 Victor Oladipo (IND) 251,886
4 Ben Simmons (PHI) 210,085
5 John Wall (WAS) 175,990
6 Dwyane Wade (CLE) 165,163
7 Isaiah Thomas (CLE) 87,680
8 Kyle Lowry (TOR) 85,070
9 Bradley Beal (WAS) 71,079
10 Jaylen Brown (BOS) 51,562
As a reminder, Dwane Casey and staff would also figure to coach in the All-Star Game if the Raptors have the best record in the East two weeks out from the game or if they’re second to Boston (since Brad Stevens can’t coach in back-to-back years).
As a further refresher, because there seems to be some confusion on the process, here’s what I wrote about a month back:
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
So again, the procedure for selecting the 24 players who comprise the All-Star teams remains the same as last year, the captains will just determine how to split that pool into two teams.
Here’s a refresher on how to vote and the timeline:
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
- Weibo and Tencent – go to China.NBA.com/vote
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.
An important note that Jan. 4, Jan. 11, Jan. 12, and Jan. 15 are days that count double for voting, so those are your days to bang the drum for DeRozan and Lowry (as you see fit) with the most aggression.
