In the sequel to this weekend’s consideration of potential Eastern Conference All-Star starters following the first results of fan voting for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, we’ll take a look today at the players who are in the mix (and deserving to be in the mix) for Western Conference All-Star starting gigs.
During the voting process, players are separated by conference. Three frontcourt players will be selected and two guards will be chosen. Fan votes are weighted as 50% of the total vote. The remaining 50% will be split evenly between players and media members. The league’s head coaches will then pick the All-Star benches after starters are announced.
The All-Star Game is set for February 20 at the Cavaliers’ home arena, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Online fan voting began on Christmas Day 2021, and will conclude at 11:59 p.m. ET on January 22. The fan voting results so far were announced by the NBA on January 6.
Lakers small forward LeBron James received 2,018,725 fan votes to lead all frontcourt players in the West, followed by the reigning MVP, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, with 1,649,809 votes. Clippers small forward Paul George, out with a long-term shoulder injury, is currently in third place with 1,072,591 votes. Surprisingly, Warriors small forward Andrew Wiggins is outpacing his more decorated — and, let’s face it, just plain better — All-Star teammate, power forward Draymond Green.
The 933,355 fan votes for Wiggins are significantly more than the 691,423 fan votes Green received. Wiggins has made far more of a scoring impact than Green has, to be fair, though Green’s passing and versatile, league-best defense make him the more crucial contributor to the Warriors’ 30-10 record.
Lakers big man Anthony Davis (592,281 votes), Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (474,794 votes), Lakers reserve forward Carmelo Anthony (319,128 votes), Jazz center Rudy Gobert (218,819 votes) and Suns center Deandre Ayton (177,115 votes) round out the top 10.
Among this top 10, only Anthony is truly unworthy of consideration, though the notion of the barely-available Davis meriting a look for his contributions as the second-best player on a .500-level club seems shaky. At present, George has played just one fewer game than Davis has, though that is subject to change. Gobert, who along with Green looks to be a favorite to win another Defensive Player of the Year award this season in one of the West’s elite teams, deserves the third starting frontcourt nod over George.
Warriors point guard Stephen Curry leads the West’s guards (and also every other player in the NBA) in fan voting with 2,584,623 votes. Far behind Curry are fourth-year Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic, already a two-time All-Star, with 787,690 votes and third-year Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant with 669,033 votes. Tonight, Morant led the fourth-seeded Grizzlies to a 116-108 statement win over Curry’s Warriors. The victory marked 10 straight for Memphis. The 29-14 Grizzlies occupy the West’s fourth seed, far ahead of Doncic’s fifth-seeded Mavericks at 22-18.
Curry’s Golden State teammate Klay Thompson, who has played a grand total of two games this season, received a nonsensical 367,743 fan votes last week, the fourth-most for any West guard. Thompson far outpaced the more worthy Suns backcourt tandem of Devin Booker (338,526 votes) and Chris Paul (315,912 votes), who in turn are just ahead of Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (217,546). Among this group, Mitchell, Paul and Booker all could make a case to start. The same cannot be said for Thompson.
As of this writing, this fan voter would start Jokic, James, and Gobert for the Western Conference’s frontcourt trio, with Curry and Morant occupying the two starting guard spots.
We want to know what you think! Who deserves to be a Western Conference All-Star starter? Are there any borderline starters you think could be determined based on their play during this last month of voting? Head to the comment section below to weigh in!
I think you’re being a little harsh on Wiggins. He’s averaging nearly 19 a game with a .486/.418 slash while usually taking on the toughest assignment from the opposition on D. He definitely should be a reserve.
Same starters with only one change. LeBron, Jokic and Gobert in the frontcourt with Curry and Mitchell at the guards.
West should line up
Bron Jokic PG13 Curry and KAT.
East should be
KD Giannis Embiid DeRozan and Harden.
KD and LeBron captains please, it’s the rivalry.
Benches
West: Ja, Doncic, Booker, Mitchell, Wiggins, Green, AD and Gobert.
East: Young, LaVine, Ball, Butler, Tatum, Bridges Allen and Bam.
Bam and Butler missed too many games, Bridges is a no
Sillivan Prediction – Who will play in Cleveland.
Starters:
Stephen Curry – Morant – Draymond – Lebron- Nikola Jokic
Reserves:
Andrew Wiggins – Rudy Gobert – Towns – Doncic – Chris Paul – Booker – Mitchell
Lillard, AD and Paul George will be out,
The WC starters should be…
Luka, Murray, LBJ, Jokic & Gobert.
The subs should be…
Ja, Curry, PG13, AD, KAT, JV & Ayton
The 2 injury replacements (if needed)…
CP3 & KP6
Murray and Luka aren’t playing better than Curry get off the grass
With so many talented offenssive-minded players Gobert would be an effective defensive anchor, just as he is for the Jazz.
It would be cool to see Melo there for one last time….
Plus, he is giving an awesome effort, playing good defense, blocking some shots, getting some rebounds and rockin’ Staples with all those 3’s…
No, it would not be. Other players are far more deserving of a spot. Voting for Melo at this point just looks silly.
He’s already had a great career minus a championship. There’s no need to pity him.
I can’t believe Lillard isn’t even mentioned. Understand he’s injured and all but if dudes like melo and Wiggins and Thompson are going to get that many votes and shouldn’t sniff the AS roster, that’s just odd and wrong. Dame is better than both of them and it’s not close.
By “both”…..I meant all 3.
It just means Lakers and Warriors fans are more engaged in voting….big fanbases there…
lliard has been injured and on a losing team. Hard to motivate people to vote for him when he has 2 things against him.
I’d rather Klay and Melo over Dame for an AS game. Klay is a cool guy, great energy and coming back from injury. Melo he’s been playing great and I feel like he’s still owed something from the league since they tried keeping him out. Whereas with Dame, he’s just an underperforming star on a bad team.
I think its going to be starters: Curry, luka, lebron, George, Jokic (booker as George replacement), Reserves: Booker, Morant, Towns, Gobert, Mitchell, AD, Paul with Wiggins and Ayton as replacements for george and AD…Draymond shouldn’t be a all star. I know his defense is great and he is a huge reason they’re winning but the man doesn’t have double figures in any major statistic
Agree, Draymond not really an all-star caliber, unless I’m missing something that is.
Yes, you are!!!
Defense and floor game do not have significant statistics. But is defense important?
Green should probably be thrown out more often, but that is not my call.
1- Jokic, James, George, Curry, Morant (repeat of writer AlexK)
2- Gobert, DrayG, Doncic, Booker, Mitchell
3. Ayton, JJJ, Bridges, Paul, Ingram