The first round of fan votes are in, and Golden State’s Splash Brothers are still recognized by NBA fans as All-Star caliber.
Stephen Curry ranks second among Western Conference guards with 1,394,980 votes. Curry has racked up the eighth most votes overall, behind Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum have received more votes overall than Curry.
If Curry’s spot in the West’s backcourt holds, he’d start his 10th career All-Star Game. He has started each of his nine prior All-Star selections in his 15-year career.
The NBA will release more voting updates on Jan. 11 and Jan. 18 before announcing the starters on TNT on Jan. 25.
Fan votes account for 50 percent of the ballots, with media and players each having 25 percent blocs. Those votes determine the starters for each conference — two guards and three front court players — with head coaches filling out the reserves. For Curry, the media and player votes could make things interesting, since Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having an arguably better season than the two-time MVP.
Curry is averaging 27.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game for the Warriors. As his supporting case has been inconsistent, his nightly greatness has helped Golden State tread water.
Curry’s sidekick, Klay Thompson, also received consideration despite a tough start to his season. A recent solid stretch improved Thompson’s numbers, but the shooting guard still has career-worst marks in field goal and 3-point percentage. His 16.7 points per game is his lowest since the 2012-13 season.
Despite his struggles, Thompson has received 183,274 votes — ninth among West guards. He’s unlikely to represent the Warriors in Indianapolis on Feb. 18, but even getting that much attention is surprising based on his performance.
Recently, Thompson shared that he and coach Steve Kerr had a heart-to-heart about the phase of Thompson’s career he’s entering and the need to focus on leading rather than personal accolades.
“We had a great conversation and that changed my whole mindset and forget about shooting splits, all-star games and just enjoy being in this Warriors uniform and appreciate what we built,” Thompson said. “Because it’s such a rare opportunity for any professional athlete to be part of so much success and to try and pass that torch to the younger guys to keep this thing going.”