On Christmas Day, the first wave of NBA All-Star voting results came in, and there were some curious selections by the fans.
It’s not all that surprising that Kobe Bryant is the leading vote getter despite his subpar season, since this will be his last opportunity to play in an All Star game, but another current starting guard was less understandable.
Kyrie Irving is sitting Dwyane Wade in second place among Eastern Conference guards. Yes, the same Kyrie Irving who has played in a total three games thus far this season.
On the first All Star returns, Irving led the third place guard Kyle Lowry by around 10,000 votes, with Jimmy Butler and John Wall rounding out the top five. Each player is within striking distance of moving up.
If the game was based totally on merit, Wall probably would still be behind Lowry and Butler, but he certainly deserves the honor more than Irving, and he expressed his frustrations when speaking to CSN Mid-Atlantic’s J. Michael.
“It’s a joke,” Wall told Michael. “I played like horsesh*t the first month and a half but I still was averaging like 16 [points] and eight [assists per game]. That’s not bad numbers.”
Wall certainly has a bit of a point. While it’s the fans right to vote in whoever they want to start the games, and starting versus coming in off the bench really doesn’t make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a bit ridiculous to vote in a guy who has barely even been able to play this season.
Despite his frustrations with Irving being in a position to start, Wall did acknowledge that if Kyrie was healthy from the beginning of the year, he would have been able to earn his spot.
“I guess it’s the record. No offense Kyrie, he’s played (three) games,” Wall said. “If he was healthy he probably would be in that position because he’d be playing well. I can see him there because that’s how talented he is.”
The good news for Wall is that it’s not over yet. All Star voting remains open through Jan. 18.
(Via CSN Mid-Atlantic)
