There are some familiar names atop the first All-Star fan voting returns. And there are some whose ranking reminds us this is a popularity contest and not who are truly the best players.
No pushback from me on that one. There's always a player or two who gets a ton of votes more on their reputation than their actual play. This year, Westbrook is that dude.
Why in the world is Austin Reaves in the mix. I totally agree Tyrese deserves starting slot along with Jaylen Brown. Both have carried their teams. Lamelo ball has also been unavailable for lots of games so it truly is a name recognition popularity contest.
Fortunately, this is only the first round of voting and these votes only count for half of the voting for All-Star starters. I anticipate Tatum will pass Embiid as a starter from the East, and Tyrese H. will climb into the top-5 among East guards. Brown I suspect will likely be third or fourth amonth East guards when all is said and done, but will get selected as a reserve by the coaches.
Markkanen is someone i think deserves to be there more than say russell westbrook
No pushback from me on that one. There's always a player or two who gets a ton of votes more on their reputation than their actual play. This year, Westbrook is that dude.
Why in the world is Austin Reaves in the mix. I totally agree Tyrese deserves starting slot along with Jaylen Brown. Both have carried their teams. Lamelo ball has also been unavailable for lots of games so it truly is a name recognition popularity contest.
Fortunately, this is only the first round of voting and these votes only count for half of the voting for All-Star starters. I anticipate Tatum will pass Embiid as a starter from the East, and Tyrese H. will climb into the top-5 among East guards. Brown I suspect will likely be third or fourth amonth East guards when all is said and done, but will get selected as a reserve by the coaches.