8:15 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2017 The NBA released the voting results for the 2017 All-Star starters on Thursday, revealing which players will be headed to New Orleans next month.
The biggest surprise on the list was the absence of Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, who's on pace to become the first player since Oscar Robertson (1961-62) to average a triple-double throughout an entire season.
Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas, who leads the Eastern Conference in points per game with 28.7, was also left off, as was Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who ranks third in the NBA in three-point percentage.
Eastern Conference frontcourt
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (first selection) - Antetokounmpo is the first Bucks player to be selected to the All-Star Game since Michael Redd in 2004.
- LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers (13th selection) - James, 32, is the leading scorer in All-Star Game history with 291 points. He will be the fifth player in NBA history to start at least 13 All-Star Games, joining Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy and Michael Jordan.
- Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls (third selection) - This is Butler's third consecutive All-Star selection, though he didn't play in last year's game due to a knee injury.
Eastern Conference guards
- Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers (fourth selection) - Irving scored 31 points and dished out 14 assists in the 2014 All-Star Game en route to the game's MVP award.
- DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors (third selection) - This is DeRozan's second straight All-Star selection.
Western Conference frontcourt
- Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors (eighth selection) - With 25.6 points per game, Durant has the highest scoring average in All-Star Game history.
- Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs (second selection) - In his All-Star debut last year, Leonard scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds.
- Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans (fourth selection) - This selection ties Davis with Chris Paul for the the most All-Star selections in New Orleans franchise history.
Western Conference guards
- James Harden, Houston Rockets (fifth selection) - Harden has been named an All-Star in all five of his seasons with Houston.
- Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (fourth selection) - This is Curry's fourth consecutive selection and his fourth time starting.
As was announced in December, this year marked the first time that fans only made up 50% of the vote, while NBA players and media each comprised 25% — a change made to give some sort of balance between the most popular players and the most deserving.
In short, per the NBA: Players were ranked in each conference by position (guards and frontcourt) within three voting groups (fans, players and media). Each player’s score was calculated by averaging his weighted rank from those voting groups. The five players with the best score from each conference were then chosen to be All-Star starters.
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Fan voting served as the tiebreaker for players with the same score. DeRozan (796,112 fan votes) won the tiebreaker with Thomas (755,102) for the second starting spot among East guards. Curry (1,848,121) and Harden (1,771,375) won the tiebreaker with Westbrook (1,575,865) for the two starting guard spots in the West.
Fans cast more than 38 million votes during the All-Star Voting period, presented by Verizon — a 146% increase from the same time period last year, according to the NBA.
The All-Star reserves, as selected by NBA head coaches, will be announced on Jan. 26.
The All-Star Game will take place on Feb. 19 at the Smoothie King Center.