After the second result of fan voting for the 2024-25 NBA All-Star Game, Damian Lillard ranks third among guards in the Eastern Conference behind LaMelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell. As the Milwaukee guard looks to earn his ninth All-Star selection, Bucks leader Giannis Antetokounmpo has urged fans to vote.
In a post on his Instagram Story Thursday morning, The Greek Freak posted a photo of himself and Lillard on the court, urging fans to vote for his Milwaukee co-star.
In response, Lillard posted Antetokounmpo’s story on his own story and added:
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“Turn me on sir hahaha”
Lillard sits just over 161,500 votes away from second place, while Antetokounmpo leads not only the Eastern Conference Frontcourt voting but also all players in the league when it comes to fan voting.
Starters for both teams are selected based on votes from fans, NBA players and the media. Reserve players are then chosen based on votes from the league’s coaches, with each conference selecting seven reserves.
Ahead of February’s All-Star weekend, starters will be announced on Jan. 23 on TNT, and reserves will be announced on Jan. 30 during the network’s TNT NBA Tip-Off show.
Analyzing Damian Lillard’s case for an All-Star selection this season
As mentioned above, Damian Lillard currently ranks third among point guards in the Eastern Conference. With LaMelo Ball almost 500,000 votes ahead of Lillard and more than 300,000 votes ahead of Donovan Mitchell, it appears he will likely earn his second All-Star selection.
The question now is whether Damian Lillard can outperform Donovan Mitchell to guarantee a starting spot in the All-Star Game, or whether he has to aim for a reserve spot.
If the current standings hold and Donovan Mitchell secures the second starting guard spot in the Eastern Conference, Lillard still has a strong case to earn his ninth All-Star selection.
Lillard averages 24.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
At the same time, he has improved in both his field goal percentage and 3-point percentage from last year, while helping lead Milwaukee to fifth place in the Eastern Conference despite a slow start to the season.
As indicated by fan votes, along with Lillard, both Jalen Brunson and Trae Young have cases to be selected as All-Star reserves for Eastern Conference guards. Brunson has helped lead the Knicks to third place in the East averaging 25.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists on 47.7% from the floor.
In Young’s case, while the Hawks rank ninth in the East, Young leads the league with 12.2 assists per game, a notable jump from his average of 10.8 assists per game last season. Additionally, Young averages 22.6 points and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 40.1% from the floor.
Given that, while Damian Lillard has a strong case to be selected as an Eastern Conference point guard, it is clear that there is stiff competition.
Edited by Evan Bell.