The NBA released the returns from the first round of fan voting for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game starters Thursday and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard comes in at seventh among guards and 14th among Western Conference players with 314,158 votes.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is the top vote-getter among Western Conference guards with 2.7 million votes, though Dallas’ Luka Doncic isn’t far behind with 2.3 million votes. There’s a significant drop off after that, with Ja Morant in third with 915,507 votes followed by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in fourth, Klay Thompson in fifth and Russell Westbrook in sixth with roughly 130,000 more votes than Lillard. Devin Booker, Austin Reaves and Jordan Poole round out the Top 10.
Kevin Durant and LeBron James, both of whom have received over three million votes, are the top vote-getters among all players in the first round of returns. Kyrie Irving is the top vote-getter among East guards with a little over two million votes. The two guards and three frontcourt players with the most votes from both conferences will start the 2023 All-Star Game, which is being held this year in Salt Lake City.
In the past, NBA All-Star starters were picked solely by fan vote, though the league changed the system a few years ago so that 50 percent of the vote now goes to fans, with the players getting 25 percent of the vote and the media getting the remaining 25 percent. All-Star reserves are selected by a vote of NBA head coaches.
Lillard, a six-time All-Star who recently passed Clyde Drexler to become the Trail Blazers’ all-time leading scorer, is averaging 27.4 points, which ranks 10th in the NBA, on 44 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from three, 7.2 assists, good for 14th, and 3.4 rebounds in 35.4 minutes per game this season. He’s also missed 12 games with various injuries after sitting out the second half of the 2021-22 season due to surgery to repair a core muscle injury. Portland is 14-11 with Lillard in the lineup and 5-7 without him this season.
There’s still plenty of time to get in your votes for Lillard, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons and any other Trail Blazer by going to NBA.com or the NBA’s app. Fans can vote once per day on both platforms, with voting ending on Saturday, January 21 and the starters announced a few days later on January 26. The reserves, as selected by the head coaches, will be announced on TNT on February 2.
The 72nd NBA All-Star Game will be held on Saturday, February 19 at 5 p.m.