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The first returns for the 2019 NBA All-Star game are in, with Luka Doncic in as a top vote-getter in the Western Conference:
All-Star fan voting first returns are in. Halleluka pic.twitter.com/2xdEs6bquT
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 3, 2019
If you can’t read the tallies, Luka is second in the Western Conference front court voting with 679,839 votes, trailing only Lebron James. Over all, Doncic’s vote total puts him seventh overall in All-Star voting.
Doncic registering in All-Star voting shouldn’t be a surprise given his overseas following, yet finishing in the top four in the Western conference is shocking. Doncic is putting up historical numbers for a rookie, 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5 assists, with a signature shot in a step-back three pointer to boot.
It remains to be seen if Doncic can actually hold his slim lead over Kevin Durant in the Western conference, but a strong voting effort from fans may continue as the league accepts votes (Click here! You can vote 10 times a day!). As ESPN’s Rachel Nichol’s notes the fan vote is only part of the deal:
First round of fan voting for All-Star is in. Fans (50%), players (25%) & media (25%) combine to pick "starters." Rest of rosters filled by coaches. But really that just creates the pool of players that the highest vote-getters in each conference will draft from, playground-style pic.twitter.com/CZicf8EYub
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 3, 2019
If voting continues at this pace and Doncic continues to perform at a high level, he might be the first Dallas Maverick to be an All-Star since Dirk Nowitzki in 2014-15. He would also be the first rookie to start an All-Star game in 15 years.
Luka Doncic still has a long way to go, but the last 5 rookies to *start* an NBA All-Star Game are:
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) January 3, 2019
2003 — Yao Ming
1995 — Grant Hill
1993 — Shaquille O'Neal
1985 — Michael Jordan
1982 — Isiah Thomas