The first returns of fan voting for the All-Star game are in, and the Trail Blazers have two featured players: Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony.
Trail Blazers fans outraged on NBA Twitter? You guessed it, the first returns from the fan for the All-Star game are in.
And as usual, the fan vote (which is only 50% and relates only to the starters) has caused it’s annual controversy, as names like Alex Caruso, Dwight Howard and (my personal favorite) Tacko Fall were included in the top ten of their respective sections.
However, the results did bring some good news for Portland fans, as Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony were also included in the top ten.
Lillard, who is a previous 4x All-Star, received the third most votes for the Western Conference back-court, tallying up 202, 498 votes. Despite Portland’s poor record, Lillard is a likely shoe-in for the All-Star game, as he continues to post impressive numbers, averaging 26.7 points and 7.6 assists on the year.
As expected, 10x All-Star Carmelo also received some love from the NBA fan base. Anthony is a well-renowned fan favorite, and it was no surprise to see him rack up plenty of votes; there have even been shouts around the league to hand Anthony a potential ‘special roster addition’, due to the NBA handing Dwayne Wade and Dirk Nowitzki similar roles in the 2019 game.
Whilst Melo is unlikely to make it all the way to the All-Star game without a helping hand from Adam Silver, fans around the league are certainly giving him a fighting chance, as the forward was voted for over 140,000 times, which earned him eighth spot in the Western front-court positions.
Strong first returns for the @trailblazers. @Dame_Lillard third among guards while @carmeloanthony is eighth among front court players. https://t.co/0FBqFwa6Y9
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 2, 2020
One Blazer who will perhaps be disappointed not to crack the early top ten is CJ McCollum, who is once again scoring the basketball well, currently averaging 22.2 points on the year. With Klay Thompson out, I predicted at the start of the year that CJ would potentially fill an open spot on the All-Star roster, and finally make his first appearance, and whilst it looks unlikely now considering Portland’s record, I hope he can push on and at least become a candidate.
The rest of the vote is made up by current NBA players and the media, every voter gets to choose two guards and three front-court players from each conference. Voting comes to a close on Monday January 20th, so Rip City, get your votes in to see your Trail Blazers at the All-Star game!