A Heat starter for All-Star Game appears unlikely
The last Miami Heat player who started in the NBA All-Star Game was
Dwyane Wade in 2016. Will that slump end this season?
Based on the initial returns of fan balloting for the All-Star Game released by the league on Thursday, that slump may continue with Jimmy Butler (767,913) coming in at a distant fourth place among Eastern Conference frontcourt players behind Boston’s Jayson Tatum (1,765,919), Philadelphia’s
Joel Embiid (1,844,025 votes) and Milwaukee’s
Giannis Antetokounmpo (2,171,812 votes).
In addition, Heat center
Bam Adebayo ranks sixth among East frontcourt players with 238,485 votes, behind fifth-place
Jaylen Brown (426,589) of the Boston Celtics.
There are no Heat players among the top 10 vote-getters for East guards. Heat guard Tyler Herro, who is averaging career highs in points
(23.3 per game), rebounds (5.6) and assists (4.4) this season but missed 18 games because of a sprained ankle, did not make the cut in the first returns of fan balloting.
The 10 East guards with the most votes are: No. 1 Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, 2. Milwaukee’s
Damian Lillard ,No.3 Atlanta’s Trae Young ,4.
Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, 5. Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, 6. New York’s Jalen Brunson ,7. Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball,
8. Boston’s Derrick White, 9. Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan and 10. Boston’s Jrue Holiday.
Fans account for 50 percent of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the Feb. 18 NBA AllStar Game, which will take place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
All current NBA players and a media panel account for 25 percent apiece of the vote, with every voter completing a ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players.
Voting for fans will conclude Jan. 20.
So, how exactly are the five All-Star Game starters from each conference determined?
After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups — fan votes, player votes and media votes.
Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes.
The two guards and three frontcourt players with the best score in each conference will be named
NBA All-Star Game starters. Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.
If no Heat players make it to this season’s All-Star Game as starters, they will still have an opportunity to get in as reserves. Head coaches will select the seven reserves from each conference.
All-Star Game starters will be revealed on Jan. 25 on TNT and the network will also announce the reserves on Feb. 1.
Adebayo was the only player to represent the Heat in last season’s AllStar Game, getting in as an East reserve.
ANOTHER ROOKIE AWARD FOR JAQUEZ
The NBA on Thursday announced that Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. has again been selected as the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, this time for games played in December.
It marks the second consecutive month that Jaquez has earned the honor, receiving the first two East Rookie of the Month awards handed out this season.
Jaquez, who was taken by the Heat with the 18th overall pick in this past summer’s draft following a four-year college career at UCLA, is the first Heat rookie to earn the honor multiple times in the same season since Kendrick Nunn was named the East Rookie of the Month three separate times during the 2019-20 season.
Caron Butler is the only other Heat rookie to get the monthly rookie honor multiple times in the same season, receiving the award four separate times during the 2002-03 season.
The only other Heat rookies in franchise history to get the award at least once were Michael Beasley and Josh Richardson.
Jaquez, 22, averaged
16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 84.9 percent from the foul line in 13 games during December.