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Ben Simmons Received Solid Results in Media/Player Votes for All-Star Game

76ers point guard Ben Simmons wasn't in favor of the fans for the Eastern Conference All-Star voting. But the media and the players gave him favorable results.

Justin Grasso

Ben Simmons Received Solid Results in Media/Player Votes for All-Star Game
Ben Simmons Received Solid Results in Media/Player Votes for All-Star Game /

On Thursday night, the NBA tallied up and released all of the fans, media, and player votes for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. While the rosters are not set in place just yet, the starters and captains have been revealed.

To no surprise, LeBron James is running the Western Conference, while Giannis Antetokoumpo is in charge of the Eastern Conference this season. And for the third time in a row, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will appear in the starting lineup.

Last season, Embiid made the All-Star game as a starter, but he wasn't alone from the Sixers. Despite being on opposite sides, Embiid did share the floor with his Sixers teammate, Ben Simmons, in 2019.

This year, there's a chance it could happen again, but Simmons' chances of making the team are far from a lock. When the first wave of fan votes came out a few weeks back, Simmons appeared fifth on the list for guards, according to the popular vote.

Then when the second wave of votes came out, the Sixers' guard didn't see much of a boost. In fact, he dropped down two spots. Now that the starter's results are out, it has been revealed that Simmons ended up in eighth place for the Eastern Conference guards voting from the fans.

However, the media and player votes told a much different story about Simmons. According to his peers, Simmons ranked as the fourth-best guard in the East. Meanwhile, the media did him even better by placing him third.

So aside from the fan votes, Simmons ended up placing behind the two starters, Trae Young and Kemba Walker. Unfortunately, the fan votes carry significant weight in this battle. Therefore, Simmons ranked seventh overall.

Next Thursday, the NBA will allow the two captains to assemble their team. Considering the amount of respect Simmons received within the player's voting, there is still a good chance he could get selected as a reserve, just like last year -- marking the second-consecutive season the third-year veteran becomes an All-Star.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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