ALL-STAR: Player voting shows high esteem for Fox,
Kings point guard De’aaron Fox hasn’t established himself as an All-star yet in the eyes of NBA fans, but voting among players suggests he has already earned that level of respect from his peers.
The league released voting results after unveiling the pool of starters for the 2021 NBA All-star Game on Thursday. Fox wasn’t voted in as a starter, but he could still be chosen as a reserve. Fox finished outside the top 10 among Western Conference guards in the overall vote, but he was sixth in player voting, trailing only Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic, Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell.
Fox, who came out of Kentucky as the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, is averaging 23.2 points, 6.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds in his fourth season for the Kings. He topped the likes of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-alexander, Ja Morant and Demar
Derozan in player voting, but he didn’t fare as well among fans.
Fox finished 14th in fan voting with 192,247 votes, trailing not just Paul, Gilgeous-alexander, Derozan and CJ Mccollum, but
also Klay Thompson and Alex Caruso. Caruso, who was 65th in player voting but eighth in fan voting, is averaging 5.5 points per game in a backup role for the Los Angeles Lakers. Thompson, who finished ninth in fan voting, hasn't played for the Golden State Warriors since 2018-19 due to injuries.
Three voting groups determined the starters for the All-star Game, which will be held March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Fans accounted for 50% of the vote. NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%) made up
the other half of the vote. Reserves, which will be chosen by NBA coaches, will be announced Tuesday.
Curry, Doncic, Lebron James, Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard were voted into the starter pool from the Western Conference. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving were voted in from the Eastern Conference.
James and Durant, the top vote-getters from their respective conferences, will serve as captains. They will choose their teams from the pool of starters and reserves in the All-star Draft March 4 on TNT.
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