NBA News: 3 surprising results from the first All-Star Game fan voting revealed
The first round of results of the 2020 NBA All-Star Game fan votes are in and we have a few surprises in store.
Starting with the leaders, Luka Doncic leads the league in total votes - accumulating 1,073,957 fan votes to date. He is just 599 votes ahead of MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who continues to spearhead a weaker Eastern Conference again.
LeBron James is the third-highest vote-getter with a total of 1,020,851 votes to his name, while his Laker star teammate Anthony Davis has garned 955,246 votes. Alongside these names, there were also a few surprises on the list too. Here are the three most notable:
1) Tacko Fall ranks fifth among frontcourt players in the East
Tacko Fall has played just 11 minutes this season and was still able to accumulate 110,269 votes to his name right now. Ranked fifth on the list of frontcourt players in the East, he has more votes than players including Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell.
Although he's already earned cult-hero status in Boston, the NBA should probably have eligibility criteria for players to qualify for voting - like playing for a certain amount of minutes.
2) Alex Caruso and Dwight Howard made the list
There is a reason why players want to play for big franchises, and today's results point out one of those reasons. There are four players currently in the voting list for the Los Angeles Lakers - including Alex Caruso and Dwight Howard.
Caruso collected 92,233 votes, more than those of Booker and Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant. Dwight's name in the top ten is also surprising and a clear indication of the franchise power.
3) Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony still soaring high on the list
Derrick Rose has 233,669 votes in the first round, which sees him sit in fourth place among guards in the East. He has a global fanbase, which is presumably one of the reasons for such a spike in votes for the 31-year-old.
Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony's return to the league after a year-long absence has been greeted with similar fanfare. Having collected collected 142,292 votes thus far, he sits in eighth and is ahead of Brandon Ingram in the West, who is enjoying an impressive season despite the Pelicans' collective struggles.