If everyone doesn’t pick it up, we’re all going to be subject to way too much “Kyle Lowry Hashtag NBA Vote!” from Matt Devlin on Toronto Raptors broadcasts over the next few weeks. Please, for the love of shammgod, save us that fate and get voting.
The first returns from voting for the 2015-16 NBA All-Star Game were released Friday, and the Raptors don’t show well. Lowry, the most deserving guard in the Eastern Conference, ranks third at the position behind Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving. Obviously, that’s a complete joke – Wade is an all-timer still putting up solid numbers on a good team, but Irving has played two freaking games!
Kobe & LeBron lead first returns of #NBAAllStarTO Voting presented by @Verizon! Vote: https://t.co/7SYpaqHa1f pic.twitter.com/A31HDvJHm2
— 2016 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) December 25, 2015
I know, the All-Star Game is for the fans and fans get to vote for their favorites over the most deserving. It’s an inevitability that Kobe Bryant is going to make the game, for instance. But Wade and Irving over Lowry is hardly some award of career performance or higher-level entertainment (both would probably even appreciate the weekend off). Lowry is within easy striking distance of Irving, but Wade is running away with the vote, and fans need to get on that and tweet Kyle Lowry’s full name with the hashtag #NBAVote (not NBA Ballot) to ensure the proper starting point guard leads the East, in Toronto, no less.
In 30 games, Lowry is averaging 20.9 points, five rebounds, six assists, and 2.2 steals while shooting 38.2 percent on threes for an 18-12 team that sits third in the conference. If you’re a fan of the catch-all metrics, Lowry ranks sixth in the NBA in Win Shares (and first in the East), fifth in Real Plus-Minus (second to LeBron James in the East), third in RPM-based Wins Produced (first in the East), and sixth in DRE per-game (first in the East). He’s been awesome on offense, a havoc-creator on defense, and is leading a quality team through several injuries. He couldn’t be more deserving of a starting spot so far.
DeMar DeRozan, himself having a fine, All-Star worthy season, ranks seventh among East guards. It’s possible Lowry and DeRozan are cannibalizing some of each other’s votes (this probably happened with the coach’s vote in 2013-14, when DeRozan got the nod over a more deserving Lowry), and so I’d urge fans to keep track of the voting totals closely – there may come a time where you’re best served ditching DeRozan from your ballot even if you prefer him over Lowry to ensure that one Raptors guard is starting.
In any case, it seems likely that Lowry and DeRozan will both make the team when all’s said and done. Lowry has been the best point guard in the conference this season, DeRozan is turning in the best year of his career so far and is a favorite of coaches, and the competition at guard spots in the East is a little weak. And it’s worth noting that Lowry made a late push to overtake Wade last year and opened in fourth on the first returns, so this isn’t unprecedented. Still, it’s a bad look for the home crowd if they can’t vote their deserving star into the starting lineup.
Fans have 24 days left to vote.
As a reminder:
The league has released information on all of the different ways to vote this year, and with so many platforms, it seems we’re only a year or two away from telepathic voting. This year, fans can vote online at NBA.com, via text message, Facebook, Instagram, Weibo, Tencent, and the NBA app. And, of course, fans can vote on Twitter. Last year they had fans use the hashtag #NBABallot, but this year they’re going with the more character limit-friendly #NBAVote.
