Jazz Represented Poorly In First All-Star Voting
Jan 6, 2022, 12:14 PM | Updated: 12:28 pm
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz stars did not get the respect they deserve in the first NBA All-Star voting returns.
Ahead of the February 20 event in Cleveland, Jazz center Rudy Gobert ranked ninth in the first round of All-Star voting among Western Conference Frontcourt players while Donovan Mitchell ranked seventh among guards in the West.
Gobert garnered 218,819 votes among frontcourt players in the conference while Mitchell recorded 217,546 votes.
Rudy Gobert ranks 9th among Western Conference frontcourt players.
Donovan Mitchell ranks 7th among backcourt players. pic.twitter.com/ClQi2visje
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 6, 2022
Jazz veteran Mike Conley who made his first All-Star appearance last season did not rank in the top-1o among vote-getters for Western Conference guards.
The NBA will name All-Star starters using a combination of fan voting and voting from current NBA players and media. The vote is split evenly to name two backcourt starters and three court starters.
Somewhat preposterously, Gobert received fewer votes than Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony who is averaging a career-low 13.3 points for a team that sits just one game over .500.
Gobert is averaging 15.5 points and a league-leading 15.1 rebounds per game for the Jazz who have a record of 28-10 and sit in third place in the West.
𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄🌟#NBAAllStar | @rudygobert27 pic.twitter.com/dEF1Mt65Vx
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 6, 2022
Mitchell meanwhile sits three spots behind Golden State guard Warriors Klay Thompson who has yet to suit up this as he recovers from a knee and Achilles injury.
Mitchell is averaging 25.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.9 rebounds while shooting a career-high 45 percent from the floor.
Unsurprisingly, LeBron James leads frontcourt players in the Western Conference with 2,018,725 while Steph Curry leads Western Conference guards with 2,584,623, the most of any player in the NBA.
Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant is the leading vote-getter among Eastern Conference frontcourt players while Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan leads backcourt players in the East.