The All-Star break is fast approaching! Fan voting started just a few weeks ago, and now we have the first round of returns. As always, there are some surprises, some strange results, and some outright bad voting.
Starting with the Eastern Conference, Milwaukee’s (?) Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the conference — which, in hindsight, is a funny choice. As many know, Antetokounmpo has been stuck in a strange cycle of leaking trade rumors, hinting that he wants out, and then backpedaling hard when asked about it. On top of that, he’s missed a good chunk of the season, sitting out 12 of Milwaukee’s 32 games so far.
Right below him is Tyrese Maxey, who didn’t make the All-Star team at all last season. As things stand, he’s sitting roughly 30,000 votes ahead of Jalen Brunson — an All-Star race that should be much tighter given the talent, production and large markets involved. He’s also over 70,000 votes ahead of Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and holds a wide gap over Donovan Mitchell to round out the top contenders in the backcourt.
Rounding out the top 10 are all frontcourt players — Jaylen Brown, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Johnson, Pascal Siakam, and, surprisingly, Michael Porter Jr. With the NBA changing the All-Star format yet again, positions don’t carry much weight this year. Because of that, there’s a strong chance that as many as four Eastern Conference guards could end up starting across the various teams, barring a significant push from one of those frontcourt names.
Joel Embiid did make an appearance in the first returns, slotting in at 17th place below names like LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. It’s unlikely he’ll make a push for a starting spot this year, but if the Sixers start racking up some wins, the idea of the league rewarding them with two All-Stars isn’t that unrealistic. As things stand, Paul George is not in the top 20.
One other thing worth mentioning is the complete absence of Scottie Barnes — who is having a career season for the Toronto Raptors, a team that currently ranks fourth in the East. The fact that his name doesn’t appear anywhere in the first returns is one of the more surprising things I’ve seen in a few years of All-Star voting.
Moving out West, there are fewer surprises at the top. Luka Dončić leads the conference, with Nikola Jokić narrowly trailing behind. Stephen Curry has the third spot locked up for now — who, oh yeah by the way, has fewer votes than Maxey. What a time.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has some ground to make up, as he sits at a surprisingly low at fourth in the voting. Victor Wembanyama holds over a 100,000-vote lead on Anthony Edwards for the final starting spot out West. It’s only the first returns, but this should lead to some position shifts in both conferences, making for what should be a fun fan-voting race.
Fan voting ends on Jan. 14, 2026, giving fans just over two weeks to cram the ballot for their favorite player. Maxey is off to a great start, but he’ll need continued support to land his first starting spot in the All-Star Game. Expect another fan-vote update in the coming week or two leading up to the deadline.
