NBA All-Star voting is open: go vote for Victor Wembanyama
12/19/2024 10:00 AM
Voting is open today though January 20, and you can vote everyday, so make it count!
NBA All-Star voting is now open, and for the first time in several years, the Spurs have at least one surefire All-Star in Victor Wembanyama. But of course, his best chance of getting there — particularly being named a starter — is if the fans vote him in. To do that, go to NBA.com/vote and start your ballot. You can vote once a day, and voting lasts through January 20. Here is more information courtesy of NBA.com:
- "During the voting period, fans can submit one full ballot each day via the NBA App and the NBA.com voting page (NBA.com/vote). One full ballot comprises three frontcourt players and two guards from both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. All current NBA players will be available for selection."
- "After all votes for NBA All-Star Game starters are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes. Each player's score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The two guards and three frontcourt players with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters. Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score."
- "The five players honored as starters in each conference will be selected by fans (50% of the vote), current NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%). The seven players honored as reserves in each conference will be selected by NBA head coaches."
It's hard to imagine Wemby not making the All-Star game this season, even if it ends up being as a reserve voted in by the coaches. He's averaging a double-double of 23.6 points and 10.3 rebounds, along with 3.9 assists, 1 steal and a league-leading 3.5 blocks per game, all while showing off his expanded offensive game and helping lead the Spurs to a much improved record from last season. He arguably had a case his rookie season but was likely left out due to early-season issues with injury, heavy minutes restrictions, and the Spurs' poor record, as they sat at just 8 wins when voting closed.
Wemby is probably the only Spur with a realistic shot at making the All-Star this year beyond injury replacements. Fans could decide to get extremely nostalgic and vote for Chris Paul, but the odds of that are slim to none. Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan certainly seem like young players on the rise who will get their turn someday, but both have been hampered by injury and minutes restrictions this season and likely won't be considered outside of the Spurs' circle. (Not that any of that means you shouldn't vote for them!)
With that being said, there is a unique scenario where Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, who is currently the odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year after an unfortunate knee injury to Jared McCain, could also end up in the All-Star game. Health permitting, it's likely guaranteed he will be invited to the Rising Stars Challenge, and with the NBA adopting a similar tournament style for the All-Star game, where three teams would consist of the 24 All-Stars and the fourth would be the Rising Stars winner, Castle could end up making an appearance should his team win and advance to the All-Star Game.
Speaking of the Rising Stars, Pounder zeanocril had an interesting question: would being an All-Star eliminate Wemby from the Rising Stars? The answer is no, although I don't believe many players have participated in both in the past, and now, there's even less incentive as the new All-Star game format presents an interesting scenario where a if player participates in both, and his Rising Stars team advances to the All-Star game, he'd suddenly be on two teams.
If that odd scenario were to somehow play out, I imagine that player would take his place on his All-Star team and someone else would fill in on his Rising Stars team, but that's digging way down a rabbit hole that probably won't happen. (My two cents says if Wemby is an All-Star, he will decline a Rising Stars invite if for no other reason than rest.) Still, the bottom line is just go vote for him, and rest will sort itself out.
