No matter how everyone feels about it, the 2021 NBA All-Star Game is going to happen. COVID-19 and all, the league is moving forward with the event, though they have condensed it into a one-night only production set for March 7 in Atlanta.
On Thursday night, we learned the 10 starters, headlined by LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who will operate as captains by virtue of receiving the most fan votes. Joining them are Luka Doncic, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Jokic, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.
Next week the reserves will be announced, and on March 4, LeBron and Durant will sit down to pick their teams in the All-Star draft. Until then, there will be plenty of discussion about which players should or shouldn’t have made the cut, as there is every year.
But instead of doing that, let’s embark on a different exercise. Now that voting is over, the league has released a complete audit detailing the exact amount of votes each player received from the three different voting groups: fans, media and players. It’s a pretty interesting look at how the players are viewed by those different groups, and also produces some strange and funny results. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Player with the most fan votes not named a starter: Anthony Davis
There were 11 different players to receive at least three million fan votes, and four of them were Western Conference frontcourt. But only three of that group could start, and Davis was the odd man out. In the end, that will probably actually work out well, as Davis is dealing with a calf injury and might end up missing the All-Star Game altogether.
Player who received the fewest fan votes: Nate Hinton
Most people probably don’t even know who Hinton is, and honestly that would be fair considering he’s only played 19 NBA minutes. But there are some people that are familiar with the Dallas Mavericks rookie — 238 to be exact. That’s how many fan votes Hinton received, which was the fewest of any player. You might be thinking like, “oh, that’s kind of embarrassing” but honestly it’s cool that even the least known players still have a big support group that’s always there for them.
Players who received exactly one player vote:
Players are allowed to vote for themselves, and you have to imagine that’s what happened in at least some of these cases. And if so, right on. What’s the point of being in the NBA if you don’t vote for yourself to make the All-Star Game?
Eastern Conference guards:
- Jordan Bone, Orlando Magic
- Bruce Brown, Brooklyn Nets
- Reggie Bullock, New York Knicks
- Michael Carter-Williams, Orlando Magic
- Pat Connaughton, Milwaukee Bucks
- Wayne Ellington, Detroit Pistons
- Bryn Forbes, Milwaukee Bucks
- Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Brandon Goodwin, Atlanta Hawks
- Danny Green, Philadelphia 76ers
- Joe Harris, Brooklyn Nets
- Jared Harper, New York Knicks
- Kevin Huerter, Atlanta Hawks
- Jalen Lecque, Indiana Pacers
- Caris LeVert, Indiana Pacers
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Brooklyn Nets
- Karim Mane, Orlando Magic
- Skylar Mays, Atlanta Hawks
- Patrick McCaw, Toronto Raptors
- Rodney McGruder, Detroit Pistons
- Norman Powell, Toronto Raptors
- Terrence Ross, Orlando Magic
- Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics
- Dennis Smith Jr., Detroit Pistons
- Cassius Stanley, Indiana Pacers
- Jeff Teague, Boston Celtics
- Delon Wright, Detroit Pistons
Eastern Conference frontcourt
- Mo Bamba, Orlando Magic
- Davis Bertans, Washington Wizards
- Khem Birch, Orlando Magic
- Goga Bitadze, Indiana Pacers
- Bismack Biyombo, Charlotte Hornets
- Tony Bradley, Philadelphia 76ers
- Troy Brown Jr., Washington Wizards
- Nicolas Claxton, Brooklyn Nets
- Torrey Craig, Milwaukee Bucks
- Mamadi Diakite, Milwaukee Bucks
- James Ennis III, Orlando Magic
- Bruno Fernando, Atlanta Hawks
- Danilo Gallinari, Atlanta Hawks
- Solomon Hill, Atlanta Hawks
- Andre Iguodala, Miami Heat
- Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic
- Josh Jackson, Detroit Pistons
- Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Jordan Nwora, Milwaukee Bucks
- Jahlil Okafor, Detroit Pistons
- Chuma Okeke, Orlando Magic
- Kelly Olynyk, Miami Heat
- Cedi Osman, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Reggie Perry, Brooklyn Nets
- Vincent Poirier, Philadelphia 76ers
- Nick Richards, Charlotte Hornets
- Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat
- Thaddeus Young, Chicago Bulls
Western Conference guards:
- Sterling Brown, Houston Rockets
- Quinn Cook, Los Angeles Lakers
- CJ Elleby, Portland Trail Blazers
- Hamidou Diallo, Oklahoma City Thunder
- PJ Dozier, Denver Nuggets
- Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings
- George Hill, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Reggie Jackson, Los Angeles Clippers
- Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
- Theo Maledon, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Wesley Matthews, Los Angeles Lakers
- De’Anthony Melton, Memphis Grizzlies
- Monte Morris, Denver Nuggets
- Josh Okogie, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Kevin Porter Jr., Houston Rockets
- JJ Redick, New Orleans Pelicans
- D’Angelo Russell, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Dennis Schroder, Los Angeles Lakers
- Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
- Gary Trent Jr., Portland Trail Blazers
Western Conference frontcourt:
- Keita Bates-Diop, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Jarrell Brantley, Utah Jazz
- Nemanja Bjelica, Sacramento Kings
- Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers
- Robert Covington, Portland Trail Blazers
- Ed Davis, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Jared Dudley, Los Angeles Lakers
- Drew Eubanks, San Antonio Spurs
- Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz
- Rudy Gay, San Antonio Spurs
- Wenyen Gabriel, New Orleans Pelicans
- JaMychal Green, Denver Nuggets
- Juancho Hernangomez, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Danuel House Jr., Houston Rockets
- Cameron Johnson, Phoenix Suns
- James Johnson, Dallas Mavericks
- Kyle Kuzma, Los Angeles Lakers
- Sean McDermott, Memphis Grizzlies
- Darius Miller, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Juwan Morgan, Utah Jazz
- Markieff Morris, Los Angeles Lakers
- Eric Paschall, Golden State Warriors
- Patrick Patterson, Los Angeles Clippers
- Jakob Poeltl, San Antonio Spurs
- Aleksej Pokusevski, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Isaiah Roby, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Jae’Sean Tate, Houston Rockets
- Killian Tillie, Memphis Grizzlies
- Hassan Whiteside, Sacramento Kings
Players who received exactly one media vote
For the most part, there wasn’t too much disagreement with the media voting; to wit, eight of the 10 starters were on at least 80 out of 100 media ballots. But that actually makes it more interesting when there were outliers. Of all the players to receive a media vote, only five got exactly one:
Player who received the most fans vote without a player or media vote: Alex Caruso
Caruso has become something of a cult hero in Los Angeles, and the fans did their best to get him voted into the game. He finished eighth in fan voting among Western Conference guards with 371,648 votes, but wasn’t on a single player or media ballot.
