The NBA released its first round of All-Star vote returns on Monday and Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers received the seventh most votes in the Western Conference.
Avdija is having a breakout season, averaging 25.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Voters in Portland and beyond are clearly recognizing his strong performance. Avdija received 606,299 votes, placing him just ahead of NBA legends Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets (548,754 votes) and LeBron James (536,555 votes) of the Los
Angeles Lakers.
According to the NBA’s official release, “Fans voting via the NBA App and NBA.com with their NBA ID represent 50% of the vote to determine the five players from each conference honored as starters for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, with current NBA players and a media panel accounting for 25% each. This year, All-Stars are being selected without regard to position.”
Avdija has his work cut out for him if he wants to break into the top five of the fan vote, but Blazers fans have an opportunity to give him a boost tomorrow, which the NBA has designated as a “3-for-1 Day.” All votes cast by fans with an NBA ID via the NBA App and NBA.com on Tuesday, December 30th count as three votes.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic leads all players with 1,249,518 votes. He is followed in the Western Conference by Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets (1,128,962 votes), Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (1,031,455 votes), reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder (878,621 votes) and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs (769,362 votes).
Giannis Antetenkounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks leads the Eastern Conference (1,192,296 votes). Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers (1,072,449 votes), Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks (1,040,601 votes), Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons (1,000,171 votes) and Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers (851,155 votes) round out the top five.
The All-Star game will be hosted by the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, February 15th. This year’s contest will include two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players competing in a round-robin format.
The top 20 vote-getters can be found at the end of the NBA’s official release. The next batch of fan voting returns will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
