The 2018 NBA All-Star Game starters and captains were revealed on Thursday night. There were a few surprises, but for the most part, it was a bunch of names you would expect to see. LeBron James and Steph Curry will be the two captains for this year’s game, choosing from the pool of 22 others to draft their teams.
The starters include the likes of Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, with some mild surprises in the form of both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins nabbing frontcourt spots in the West and Joel Embiid getting the start in the East. In any case, “surprise” is used loosely, as none of those names would shock you as All-Stars.
Part of the new voting format gives players votes as well as fans and media. The idea was that fans don’t take the vote seriously enough and players should get a say (as well as the media, which tends to be a bit more objective). What we’ve learned is that players care just as much about voting in their friends as fans do with their random favorites, and it leads to some hilarity when the votes are officially released.
The NBA releases the full list of every player that gets a vote from fans and players, and while fans are expected to do weird things like #NBAVote Boban Marjanovic, you may not expect players to do the same. Except they do. Marjanovic got two votes from players (who cannot vote for themselves) as a starter in the All-Star game, and he’s not alone in extremely weird player votes.
Below you’ll find the list of the most random players to receive multiple votes from their colleagues as an All-Star starter (we didn’t include random one-offs like Cedi Osman) broken down by East frontcourt, West frontcourt, East backcourt and West backcourt. As you’ll see, players on the Nets, Pacers, Warriors, Rockets and others clearly had some fun with their ballots.
East Frontcourt:
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (8)
Bojan Bogdanovic (7)
Dario Saric (7)
Marcin Gortat (7)
Thaddeus Young (6)
DeMarre Carroll (5)
James Johnson (5)
Robin Lopez (4)
Kyle O’Quinn (4)
Jahlil Okafor (4)
Kelly Oubre Jr (3)
Stanley Johnson (3)
Gordon Hayward (2)
Thon Maker (2)
Bam Adebayo (2)
Boban Marjanovic (2)
Willy Hernangomez (2)
Josh Richardson (2)
Bobby Portis (2)
Nikola Mirotic (2)
Alex Poythress (2)
Al Jefferson (2)
Quincy Acy (2)
Jeff Green (2)
West Frontcourt:
Taj Gibson (6)
T.J. Warren (6)
Jordan Bell (4)
Ryan Anderson (4)
Trevor Ariza (4)
Ed Davis (4)
Jusuf Nurkic (4)
Ekpe Udoh (3)
Zaza Pachulia (3)
Marquese Chriss (3)
Joe Ingles (3)
Deyonta Davis (3)
Cole Aldrich (3)
Harrison Barnes (2)
P.J. Tucker (2)
Omri Casspi (2)
Zach Collins (2)
Rudy Gay (2)
Royce O’Neal (2)
Maurice Harkless (2)
Joffrey Lauvergne (2)
Alexis Ajinca (2)
East Guards:
Spencer Dinwiddie (8)
Malcolm Brogdon (7)
Kris Dunn (6)
J.J. Redick (5)
Darren Collison (5)
Caris LeVert (4)
Lance Stephenson (3)
Tony Snell (3)
Allen Crabbe (3)
Tim Frazier (2)
David Nwaba (2)
Joe Harris (2)
Corey Joseph (2)
Elfrid Payton (2)
Justin Holiday (2)
Jerian Grant (2)
Ron Baker (2)
Nicolas Batum (2)
Reggie Jackson (2)
T.J. McConnell (2)
D’Angelo Russell (2)
West Guards:
Lonzo Ball (9)
Jamal Murray (9)
Rajon Rondo (6)
Jrue Holiday (6)
Rodney Hood (5)
Jeff Teague (4)
Alex Abrines (4)
Vince Carter (3)
J.J. Barea (3)
Mike Conley (3)
Andre Roberson (3)
Tony Allen (3)
Gary Harris (2)
Ricky Rubio (2)
Patty Mills (2)
Jamal Crawford (2)
