The 2018 NBA All-Star Game starters were revealed on Thursday, and while staples like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were easily voted in, the new voting system yielded some interesting results.
In addition to the fan vote, the media and players also cast ballots for All-Stars, which led to starting lineups of James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan in the East and Curry, Durant, James Harden, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins from the West.
James and Curry will be the captains, and will select teams once the full pool of players has been chosen.
Here are some takeaways from the announcement of the All-Star starters:
Fans love Embiid ... players, not so much
Sixers center Joel Embiid was selected as a starter, but it was largely due to the fan vote. The players actually voted Kristaps Porzingis ahead of Embiid to be a starter. It could be because Embiid has played in 31 games while Porzingis has played in 39, but you would have to think that Embiid's constant Twitter trolling of various NBA players might have led to his lack of popularity. Either way, Embiid will be a starter and Porzingis will likely be selected as a reserve.
Giannis got more player votes than 'drama queen' LeBron
LeBron is generally considered to be the best basketball player in the world, even by his peers. So it was interesting to see that Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo actually received more player votes than the King. Charles Barkley explained the situation on the TNT broadcast by saying that players like Giannis more because LeBron "can be a drama queen." Not sure it's that simple, but it was a peculiar result.
Boogie and The Brow both named starters
The Warriors have two All-Star starters in Curry and Durant, but that's expected since the Warriors are the defending champions with the league's best record. It's somewhat surprising that both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins were voted in, given the fact that New Orleans has been hovering around .500 all season long. They're both having incredible statistical seasons, but an argument can definitely be made for winning to trump stats. To that point ...
Media voted Towns, Aldridge over Davis, Cousins
The Wolves and Spurs have been two of the best teams in the NBA this season, and the media voted to reward the success. LaMarcus Aldridge and Karl-Anthony Towns would be All-Star starters if it were up to the media, but the player and fan votes put the Pelicans' twin towers in the starting lineup.
Players not feeling Draymond
It's no secret that Warriors forward Draymond Green tends to get under players' skin with the way he plays ... and the way he talks. It looks like it might have hurt him when it comes to the All-Star voting, as he was second among frontcourt players in fan votes, but missed out on a starting spot because he was sixth in media voting and seventh in player voting.
Manu's the man
The 40-year-old wonder Manu Ginobili received the second-most fan votes in the Western Conference backcourt, ahead of James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, etc. He didn't make it in because of the player and media votes, but it shows how popular Ginobili still is. Never discount the Argentinian vote!
Lonzo ... yup, still popular
The league's most famous rookie in a long time didn't disappoint in the fan voting, picking up the sixth-most votes among backcourt players in the West. He got more fan votes than Chris Paul, Damian Lillard and Jimmy Butler, but Lonzo was 13th among West guards in the player voting.
Boban fever is alive and well
To show how some players weren't necessarily taking the voting seriously, TNT analyst Ernie Johnson read off some of the list of player votes. Some interesting names popped up, but none more intriguing than Pistons center Boban Marjanovic, whom Johnson said received two player votes. He also said you can't vote for yourself, so that means two NBA players voted Boban to be an All-Star. Oh well, we can dream ...