For the first time since his arrival in Los Angeles, LeBron James is not the leading vote-getter for the Lakers for the All-Star game.
The NBA released the first returns for fan voting for the upcoming All-Star game in Los Angeles and Luka Dončić leads all players. LeBron James and Austin Reaves both are in the top 10 in the Western Conference.
Not only is LeBron
not first, but this is about as far down as he’s ever been in voting, even if it’s only the first return. Perhaps LeBron’s injury, which had him out for the opening weeks of the season, played a role in fans not voting for him. And, to be fair, his play for most of the season so far hasn’t really warranted an All-Star selection.
Reaves, meanwhile, has definitely earned an All-Star selection this year. Unfortunately, his injury may throw a wrench in the plans. As it stands, it’s unclear if he’ll even be back before the All-Star game, which is roughly seven weeks away. He’s set to be reevaluated for his calf strain in late January, with the exhibition game in Los Angeles slated for Feb. 15.
The new format for this year’s All-Star game may also benefit Reaves. This year, there will be three teams of eight with two of those teams being comprised of Americans and one of players across the world. As it stands, Reaves is 10th among Americans in voting.
Despite the new format, the selection of teams will not be different. However, if the voting does not return both 16 Americans and eight international players, then commissioner Adam Silver will select players to join the group, which could result in teams having more than eight players.
This is a very dumb process and a very dumb game and it’s all very silly. For now, the only hope is that somewhere along the way of all this, Luka, LeBron and Austin are all rightfully named All-Stars.
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