On January 3rd, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced the details of the first phase of the 2025 All-Star voting today. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic are the top vote-getters in the East and West respectively. Compared to last year's first phase of All-Star voting, there are six unexpected results in 2025.
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James is only ranked 5th. James received 1,167,661 votes this year, ranking third among Western frontcourt players; if we look at the entire league, James' votes can only rank fifth, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Tatum, and Durant. Last year in the first phase, James had 2,008,645 votes, ranking first in the West and second only to Giannis Antetokounmpo in the entire league. It is possible that James' performance has declined this year, leading to a decrease in votes, or it could be that James' fans have not yet exerted their full strength.
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Curry is ranked 12th. It is unclear whether it is due to a significant drop in Curry's statistics this year, as he only received 810,357 votes in the first phase of voting, ranking third among Western backcourt players; among all players, Curry's votes could only rank 12th. Last year, Curry had nearly 1.4 million votes in the first phase, which is about 600,000 more than this year. If Curry's votes cannot rank first among backcourt players this year, he may miss out on being an All-Star starter again, just like last year.
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The magic of Harry disappears. In this year's first phase of voting, Harry Bertrand received 1.39 million votes, ranking first among Eastern guards; however, this year Harry Bertrand did not even make the top ten in Eastern backcourt votes. This year's tenth-place White received 120,000 votes, meaning Harry Bertrand's votes this year are less than 120,000, less than one-tenth of last year's, which is a huge fluctuation.
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Towns soars. In this year's first phase of voting, Towns received 1,099,966 votes, close to 1.1 million, ranking third among Eastern frontcourt players; while last year with the Timberwolves, Towns' votes were only 139,642, close to 140,000, and the difference in votes between the two years is quite significant. On the one hand, it is because Towns' performance this year is indeed good, and on the other hand, it is because New York is a big city and receives geometric growth in attention. It is worth noting that on the same day, Towns won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December.
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Ball's surge. The first place in the Eastern backcourt in the first phase this year is LaMelo Ball of the Hornets (947,444), and Ball ranking first is both unexpected and reasonable. Unexpectedly, last year at the same time, Ball's votes only ranked seventh, and this year the Eastern Cavaliers' record is too explosive, it could be Mitchell first; reasonably, it is because Ball's data this year is really explosive, and his playing style is very attractive, indeed gaining fans.
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Embiid plummets. In the first phase this year, although Embiid's personal statistics are still good, he only received 170,000 votes; while at the same time last year, Embiid's votes were as high as 1.84 million, and his situation is similar to Harry Bertrand, both experiencing a cliff-like decline.
Comparing the first phase of All-Star voting over the past two years confirms one thing: American fans really do vote based on player performance. Even superstars like James and Curry, when their performance is not that good, their votes are still not ideal; while some players who were not that famous before can still gain favor after putting up outstanding performances.