The NBA released the first fan returns for All-Star voting on Thursday.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (911,774) ranks fourth among Western Conference guards for total votes. Gilgeous-Alexander trails Ja Morant (915,507), Luka Doncic (2,388,502) and Stephen Curry (2,715,520).
Fan votes account for 50%. Players and media each account for 25% of the vote total. The five players — two guards and three frontcourt players — with the most votes in each conference will be named All-Star starters.
In 34 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.9 points on 61.5 true shooting percentage, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds.
Overall, the fourth spot is about where someone could’ve reasonably predicted Gilgeous-Alexander would land among Western Conference guards.
Curry and Doncic are monsters with huge fanbases and are having great seasons while Morant has the clout to beat out Gilgeous-Alexander. There’s an outside shot Gilgeous-Alexander could jump Morant, but I expect him to finish fourth by the end of voting.
The next fan voting update will be provided on Jan. 12. The All-Star game is scheduled to be played on Feb. 19.
