The first week of voting results for the CBA All-Star Game have been announced, with Guangdong team's guard Xu Jie emerging as the top vote-getter among guards with 294315 votes, forming a stark contrast to his teammate Hu Mingxuan. As last year's vote king, Hu Mingxuan not only missed out on the starting lineup for the South Division this year but also suffered a "Waterloo" in the fan voting. On the other hand, Liaoning team had only Zhao Jiwei selected for the starting lineup, which sparked discussions about the voting results and player performances in the All-Star Game. Looking at the votes, Xu Jie not only won by a landslide in the guard position but also ranked just behind the league-wide vote king Hu Jinqiu with 413320 votes, reflecting the high recognition from fans for his on-court performance. In comparison, Hu Mingxuan's vote count appeared particularly "cold." Last year, he attended the All-Star Game as the vote king, but this year he was completely unheard of in the first week of voting results. Hu Mingxuan's injury left the team's backcourt lacking depth, and fans' concerns about his recent performance and physical condition were felt by Guangdong fans, making such results emotional.
In fact, Hu Mingxuan's omission is not entirely without reason. In early December last year, he suffered a shoulder injury during a match against Jiangsu team and was diagnosed with a shoulder injury requiring at least three months of recovery. Since then, Hu Mingxuan has had to temporarily leave the court, missing many recent matches for the Guangdong team. As an important part of the team, his absence directly exacerbated the shortage of personnel in the Guangdong team's backcourt. Xu Jie's rise to prominence was somewhat formed against the backdrop of Hu Mingxuan's injury layoff. In the past 11 games, Xu Jie averaged 41.9 minutes per game, ranking first in the league. In the game, he impressed with stable play and calmness in key moments, often shouldering the responsibility of organizing and scoring for the team's backcourt. Such performances clearly moved a large number of fans, earning him strong support in the All-Star voting. However, this does not mean that the problems with Guangdong team's guard line have been resolved. Besides Xu Jie, there are only Huang Rongqi and Zhang Wenyi who can serve as main rotation players. Xu Jie playing every game with an overloaded schedule is not a sustainable strategy for any professional player.
Looking at Liaoning team, although they have shown overall stability, only Zhao Jiwei was selected for the starting lineup in the first week of All-Star voting, with Zhang Zhenlin absent from many games due to injury and no votes, which did not come as a surprise to fans. As an important core of Liaoning team's backcourt, Zhao Jiwei successfully made the starting lineup with his comprehensive on-court performance, while Guo Ailun, although also on the South Division list, fell short of Xu Jie in votes and failed to become the top vote-getter among guards. This result may reflect fans' recognition of different players' performances in the league and also suggests that voting results are not solely determined by historical honors and seniority. The results of this year's first week of All-Star voting are both an objective reflection of the players' on-court performances and a reflection of the focus of fans' attention. Xu Jie's rise, Zhao Jiwei's selection, and Hu Mingxuan's unexpected "omission" all interpret the subtle relationship between player status and popularity on different levels. Behind the intense matches, the players' efforts and performances undoubtedly became the main basis for fan voting.
There is still uncertainty about the future direction of Guangdong team, with Hu Mingxuan's return time not yet clear, and whether Xu Jie can continue to perform at a high level and avoid the risk of injuries due to overuse has become a focus of fan attention. In addition, whether Liaoning team can showcase more highlights in the All-Star main event is also one of the points to look forward to.
