CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Cavaliers have everybody’s attention across the NBA, especially following Monday’s takedown of the Brooklyn Nets.
But they’re not getting much love from fans at the ballot box when it comes to this year’s NBA All-Star game to be played here in Cleveland.
Fan voting counts for 50% of the vote to determine who starts the All-Star game with NBA head coaches and media comprising the other 50%. The coaches also pick the reserves while NBA commissioner Adam Silver selects injury replacements for the game.
Selecting All-Stars is important to Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who takes the responsibility seriously.
“You take the time to do the research, and then you in your own mind have to prioritize what you value,” Bickerstaff said. “For me, it’s always about how you impact winning. I do believe that that matters.
“There’s a lot of numbers out there and people can stuff stat sheets and those type of things, but if you’re not impacting winning, I think somebody who is impacting winning in my mind is more deserving.”
Last week’s returns showed Jarrett Allen sixth among frontcourt players with just under 342,000 votes while Darius Garland was ninth among guards at just under 228,000 votes.
Allen, who is averaging 16.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season while shooting 69.9% from the field, confessed he keeps track of where he stands in the balloting.
“When they come out, I look at them,” Allen said. “It’s hard not to. I’m curious what people are saying about me. I’m just being honest. I didn’t know I was going to get as many votes as I’m getting now so it’s like, oh wow this is kinda cool.”
The NBA will announce updated All-Star voting results on Thursday.
“I truly do believe that fans deserve a say in the All-Star game,” Allen said. “That’s just how it is. The fans make the NBA who it is, so I think they deserve a certain level of responsibility in the vote whether we agree with having Kyrie in there or not having all these other names in there. I do think the players also deserve a vote because that’s our coworkers, that’s who we’re playing against every day.”
So, who has Allen’s vote?
“If you’re asking that, you’re not watching,” Allen said. “Darius Garland, all the way.”
Garland, who is in his third season, is averaging a career-high 19.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 46.8% from the field.
The top two vote getters will be All-Star captains and will draft their respective teams.
Fan voting for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on February 20, ends Saturday, Jan. 22 at midnight.
The starters pool will be announced January 27 and reserves February 3.
Notes: Rajon Rondo, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, participated in Cavs walk through practice Tuesday but will not play Wednesday night at Chicago Bickerstaff said. The Cavs announced their game against the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday, March 6 has been moved to a 7:30 tip off and will be nationally televised on ESPN.