It's still too early to celebrate or resign yourself, but Victor Wembanyama can harbor hopes of playing his first NBA All-Star Game as a starter. The first point on the fans' votes, which count at 50% for the designation of the “starting five”, places the Frenchman in fifth position on Thursday in the “frontcourt” category, which brings together wingers and interiors. Above all, he is part of the quintet which broke away from the rest of the pack to hope to recover the majority of these votes.
Wembanyama has so far obtained nearly 930,000 ballots, a little less than the Lakers duo LeBron James (1.167 million) and Anthony Davis (around one million), third and fourth. Behind, the hole is made, and in proportions close to guaranteeing Wembanyama not to be taken back. It now remains to continue his sparkling form in December, which saw him rewarded with a first player of the week title in his young career.
Five out of ten provisional holders are not Americans
The votes are currently dominated by Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) in the West and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) in the East. The Greek is the absolute leader with just over 1.7 million votes, cast online by fans. Jokic is accompanied in the Western Conference among the holders of this first score by LeBron James, therefore and Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks). The Eastern Conference is currently represented by Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks), LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets) and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers).
Votes are open until January 20, with incumbents announced on January 23. In addition to the 50% of fans, the rest of the votes will come from the players themselves at 25%, and from a panel of media for the last remaining 25%. If Victor Wembanyama fails to enter the Top 3 inside wingers, he would be among the very strong candidates for selection as a replacement, who will be revealed on January 30.
The All-Star Game will take place on February 16 at the Chase Center in San Francisco with a new “mini-tournament” formula with four teams, three made up of eight All-Star players, and a fourth, winner of the Rising Star, the Friday animation that highlights players in their first and second seasons, and players from the G League, the NBA's “development” league.
