NBA All-Star Game First Fan Returns: Knicks' Brunson, Randle Snubbed?
The first returns on fan voting for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game were released on Thursday and New York Knicks fans will probably demand a recount.
Opening numbers were not kind to Knicks standouts Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle: Brunson ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference's guards department with 374,448 votes while Randle was kept out of the frontcourt genre entirely.
Both Brunson and Randle admittedly face stiff competition for their respective spots. Randle, for example, must deal with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who leads all candidates with over 2.1 million votes to date. Antetokounmpo is one of two players with at least two million votes, joining LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Each of the top six Eastern frontcourt candidates (and all but two from the top 10) reside on a team that currently sits among the top playoff contenders. New York (19-15) is currently engaged with a three-way tie for sixth with Orlando and Cleveland but falls to eighth due to tiebreakers.
Brunson's lack of headway is particularly surprising: already viewed as one of the most egregious snubs from last year's game in Salt Lake City, Brunson sits behind Tyrese Hailburton (Indiana), Damian Lillard (Milwaukee), Trae Young (Atlanta), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland), and Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia) despite building several new personal-bests so far this season.
Haliburton's continued breakout has understandably captured the national backcourt imagination (not to mention the fact that he reps the hosting Indiana Pacers) but Brunson continues to rank beyond players like Young, who reps an Atlanta Hawks team currently at the cusp of postseason oblivion (currently holding the fourth and final spot in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament).
With Antetokounmpo and James leading the frontcourt men, Haliburton and Dallas' Luka Doncic are the respective guard leaders in the East and West. This season's exhibition at Gainbridge Fieldhouse will serve as a return to the conference-vs.-conference format after six years of "fantasy" drafts.
Knicks fans upset over Brunson and Randle's place in the standings have a big day ahead: Friday will serve as the first of four "3-for-1 Days," where individual votes are worth triple. Brunson and Randle also have major chances to improve their cases that night when the Knicks face Maxey and the 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).
