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On Thursday, the starters for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game were announced, and there was no surprise: Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry has been named an All-Star starter for the ninth time. He’ll join former teammate Kevin Durant, as well as LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and Kyrie Irving as players to take the court when the game tips off in Utah in mid-February.
But what about the other Warriors? Unlike in 2022, when Andrew Wiggins joined Curry in the starting lineup, and Draymond Green was voted as a reserve, Curry is the lone representative in the starting 10, and likely in the game.
The NBA, however, releases the full voting totals for the All-Star starters, which are chosen by the fans (who have 50% of the vote), the players (25%), and the media (25%).
Here’s how all of the Warriors fared in voting.
Western Conference frontcourt (137 eligible players)
No. 8 — Andrew Wiggins
19th in player voting (12 votes)
5th in fan voting (2,432,986 votes)
It’s no surprise that Wiggins isn’t a starter this year (and almost surely won’t be a reserve, either). The West is healthier than it was a year ago, Wiggins isn’t playing quite as well, he’s missed a lot of games due to injury and sickness, and, perhaps most crucially, the Warriors are .500 instead of dominating the West.
That explains finishing 19th in player voting after being 5th a year ago, and receiving no media votes after being 6th in that department last season.
But the fan vote is still huge, and it’s also fascinating. The Warriors are one of the most popular teams in the NBA, so it’s no surprise that their players get a lot of votes ... but still, Wiggins received more than twice as many votes as franchise legend Draymond Green.
No. 9 — Draymond Green
14th in player voting (17 votes)
8th in fan voting (1,152,752 votes)
Player voting is so wonky that it’s hard to know if Dray doing fairly well on that front means anything or not. He was one of four Warriors players to exceed the million vote mark, but is highly unlikely to head to Salt Lake City for his fifth All-Star Game.
No. 16 — Kevon Looney
28th in player voting (7 votes)
10th in fan voting (831,521 votes)
Looney didn’t hit the million vote mark, but it still makes me happy to see him get a fair amount of love from both the fans and his fellow voters
No. 38 — Jonathan Kuminga
66th in player voting (1 vote)
28th in fan voting (71,101 votes)
Aaaaaaaand here’s where the drop off begins!
No. 42 — Andre Iguodala
50th in player voting (2 votes)
43rd in fan voting (24,092 votes)
As you’re going to see with some other people on this list, a lot of the players don’t take All-Star voting very seriously, which is how Iguodala ended up with two votes ... only one fewer than games played!
No. 56 — JaMychal Green
66th in player voting (1 vote)
55th in fan voting (14,362 votes)
Look at JaMychal Green out here getting All-Star votes. Way to go, dude.
No. 60 — James Wiseman
0 player votes
45th in fan voting (21,610 votes)
Get those fan votes, big man!
No. 75 — Anthony Lamb
0 player votes
63rd in fan voting (10,034 votes)
I didn’t check, but this has to be one of the better voting performances for a two-way contract.
No. 77 — Patrick Baldwin Jr.
40th in player voting (3 votes)
90th in fan voting (2,730 votes)
PBJ picking up three votes from the players tells you everything you need to know about how seriously some of them take it.
Top 5
Here’s who finished in the top five in each category:
Media voting
1. Nikola Jokić
2. LeBron James
3. Domantas Sabonis
4. Zion Williamson
5. Lauri Markkanen
Player voting
1. Nikola Jokić
2. LeBron James
3. Zion Williamson
4. Lauri Markkanen
5. Domantas Sabonis
Fan voting
1. LeBron James
2. Nikola Jokić
3. Anthony Davis
4. Zion Williamson
5. Andrew Wiggins
Western Conference guards (113 eligible players)
No. 1 — Steph Curry
2nd in media voting (53 votes)
2nd in player voting (118 votes)
1st in fan voting (5,826,248 votes)
Curry finished behind only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in total fan votes, and that was enough to make him the top finisher amongst Western Conference guards, despite slotting in behind Luka Dončić on both the player and media ballots.
No. 10 — Klay Thompson
25th in player voting (4 votes)
5th in fan voting (1,418,680)
Like Wiggins, Klay finished fifth in fan voting despite not having the media or player support that he’s seen in previous years. Still, he finished with barely half as many fan votes as Wiggins, which I find fascinating.
No. 14 — Jordan Poole
22nd in player voting (6 votes)
12th in fan voting (305,858 votes)
I’ll be honest, I kind of expected JP to do a bit better with the fan voting here after his breakout season a year ago. But there are so many guards to contest with in the West, and only two voting spots.
No. 28 — Donte DiVincenzo
18th in player voting (7 votes)
37th in fan voting (12,279 votes)
Seven player votes for DDV! Maybe he’ll be a starter next year ...
No. 83 — Moses Moody
0 player votes
75th in fan voting (1,259 votes)
Not surprisingly, there’s a pretty dramatic drop off between the four guards that are in the Warriors rotation, and the three guards that are not.
No. 88 — Ty Jerome
0 player votes
81st in fan voting (1,103 votes)
Jerome has had some really strong games, but has not captured fan voting the way his fellow two-way contract teammate, Lamb has.
No. 105 — Ryan Rollins
0 player votes
103rd in fan voting (418 votes)
Rollins couldn’t crack quadruple digit voting in his rookie season. I bet he hits the thousand mark next year!
Top 5
Here’s who finished in the top five in each category (only four players received media votes).
Media voting
1. Luka Dončić
2. Steph Curry
3. Ja Morant
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Player voting
1. Luka Dončić
2. Steph Curry
3. Ja Morant
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
5. Damian Lillard
Fan voting
1. Steph Curry
2. Luka Dončić
3. Ja Morant
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
5. Klay Thompson
What are your takeaways, Dub Nation?
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