8 takeaways from early returns in NBA All-Star fan voting

TACKO FALL, Y’ALL

It’s that time of year again. The All-Star game is right around the corner next month and the turnaround for voting is quick.

Fans have just under a month to get their votes in. Voting began on Christmas Day and ends Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20.

The NBA released the first returns on Thursday, and as expected, they are wild. Twitter is already going bonkers with takes about why fan voting is a sham and why it needs to be abolished immediately.

Here’s an early look at how things are shaking out.

Now, before you get into a tizzy about why everyone doesn’t love your favorite player the same way you do, remember: Fan voting only accounts for 50%. Player voting (25%) and media panel voting (25%) make up the other half.

Plus, there are about three more weeks left for fans to continue to vote for their favorite players. What the vote looks like now isn’t what it’s going to look like next week or over the next couple weeks.

Also, keep in mind, these votes are only for the starting lineups. Coaches get to pick the reserves. Once the reserves are picked, all players are put into a draft pool and picked by the top two leading vote getters.

Basically, don’t get too upset just yet. Let’s get into some of the early takeaways.

Luka and Giannis are the NBA’s leaders

Did anyone have Team Antetokounmpo going up against Team Doncic at the beginning of the season? It’s reasonable to think that last year’s MVP might be a leading vote getter, but I couldn’t have imagined Luka Doncic would be LEADING him.

Doncic has the most votes with 1,073,957 and Antetokounmpo is right behind him with 1,073,358. Foreign voting is definitely part of that, but they’ve both been playing out of their minds.

It’s dope to see that actually recognized. Take that, you “popularity contest” truthers.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis lead the West’s forwards by a lot

This makes perfect sense — the Lakers have been one of the best two teams in the league in one of the NBA’s glitziest markets with two of the league’s best players.

James has 1,020,851 votes and Davis has 955,246. Both make sense. What wasn’t expected, though, was that the third forward, Kawhi Leonard, would be more than 200,000 votes behind Davis. That’s wild.

Trae Young is leading all guards in the East

TRAE YOUNG HIVE STAND UP! The fans got this one right.

Look, the Hawks suck — we get it.  BUT Trae Young absolutely deserves to be an All-Star starter. He’s averaging 28.5 points and 8.3 assists while hitting 36% of his threes on the worst team in the league. It ain’t his fault, y’all. He’s doing all he can.

Plus, let’s be honest, trying to watch Kyle Lowry flop all over the place and make the right pass to start the All-Star game? Nah. Give us Trae Young 40-foot moon bombs and nutmegs instead. Please and thanks.

Stop voting for the wrong Nets guard

I’ve got no idea who is voting for Kyrie Irving at this point, but they’re voting for the wrong guard. Spencer Dinwiddie deserves way more love than he’s getting.

He’s 10th in voting with 94,618 votes while Kyrie Irving, who hasn’t hooped since November 14, has 432,481. Irving is great — he’s an alien with the best handle we’ve ever seen. But Dinwiddie has been the Nets’ best player this season.

And it’s not like he hasn’t been fun. he’s dunking on dudes, hitting clutch threes and putting up big numbers. Most importantly, he’s led the Nets to a 12-9 record without Irving after a 4-7 start. We’re voting for the wrong guard here.

Speaking of not getting enough love, where is Devonte’ Graham?

Alright, we get that he plays for the Hornets and all. Charlotte isn’t the biggest market, they don’t have many big players of note, and they won’t make the playoffs. All that is true.

At the same time, we have a responsibility to get him into this game off of this play alone.

I’m sorry, y’all. Those are the rules. Vote for Devonte’ Graham.

Carmelo Anthony’s last dance

Here’s a fact: Carmelo Anthony has done absolutely nothing to deserve being placed on this list. Here’s another fact: It would be a top five most fun thing in the world if Carmelo Anthony was actually an All-Star this season.

He’s not a good player anymore, but if you put him on a basketball court he’s going to entertain you. And, honestly, what else is the All-Star game for? Let’s start the campaign right here. Let Melo in, y’all.

The Lakers and Celtics have nine players total getting votes

LeBron James and Anthony Davis head off the list for the Western Conference forwards. Meanwhile, in the East, the Celtics have five players with votes including Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward.

It almost feels like the 1980’s again until you realize…wait…is that…DWIGHT HOWARD getting votes for the Lakers? So…who…the fourth guy is…ALEX CARUSO!?!?!?

WAIT. ONE. SECOND.

IS THAT TACKO FALL!?!?

WHY, YES. YES IT IS.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Remember, there are still a few weeks left. Just keep voting. You’ve got three weeks to get your favorite players into this game. Things will even out…probably.

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