The early returns for NBA All-Star fan voting are in, and a pair of Celtics stars rank in the top five of their positional group in the Eastern Conference.
The NBA wasn’t originally planning to hold an All-Star game in 2021, but progress is being made toward an agreement to stage a one-night event in Atlanta on March 7th. Should that game take place, it’s a lock that both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will be taking part – though neither player is likely to crack the starting lineup.
According to the NBA’s first fan returns, Tatum has received 822,151 fan votes, which ranks fourth among Eastern Conference frontcourt players. Tatum is more than 700,000 votes behind Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid in third. Nets star Kevin Durant received more votes than any other player in either conference with 2.3 million.
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Jaylen Brown ranks fourth among Eastern Conference guards with 590,195 votes, but is far behind the leading trio of Bradley Beal, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, all of whom received more than 1 million votes.
Fan voting helps determine the starting lineup of the 2021 All-Star Game, with fans receiving 50 percent of the vote. Current players and the media each receive 25 percent of the vote for All-Star starters, and NBA coaches select All-Star reserves.
Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Lakers‘ LeBron James lead the NBA’s first All-Star fan voting returns. Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Wizards’ Bradley Beal join Durant and James as leaders at positions. pic.twitter.com/ukvOeyx49H
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2021
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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