As InsideTheNBA released the names of the 2015 All-Star starters, a new day in the NBA was seen with the names that were voted in. Long gone are the glory days of Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, and even Dwyane Wade. Granted Allen Iverson is retired, KG and DWade used to be assured started positions, even years after their prime based solely on the fan voting system.
Now, the East will be sending out LeBron (obviously), Carmelo Anthony (hosting), and Pau Gasol (huh…?) to hold down the front court, with John Wall (fun and explosive) and Kyle Lowry (wow…) in the back court. LeBron is an easy assumption to start the game as he has for the last several years. Pau Gasol beat out Carmelo for the 2nd spot in the front court but Carmelo had a lot of space until the next person (he had around 77 thousand more votes than 4th place Marcin Gortat).
The biggest surprise coming out of the East starters is Kyle Lowry narrowly beating out Dwyane Wade by around 15, 000 votes. This year will mark the first time since 2006 that Dwyane Wade does not start the All-Star game, where he was voted in during his 3rd year in the league. John Wall lead the East with a comfortable 80, 000 votes between he and Lowry.
In the West, the front court will see Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol, and Blake Griffin. This continues to impress as Anthony Davis barely made the All-Star team last year as he was sent in as Kobe Bryant’s replacement. This year, he led the Western forwards by over 500, 000 votes than Marc Gasol. This will be Gasol’s second appearance in the All-Star game but first time as a starter. Between the two of them, they will break the mold of typical big men who come out of the West, such as Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard. Blake has solidified is position as an assumed starter for many All-Star games to come, but Davis and Gasol have shown that small market teams are able to produce extraordinary talents as well.
Typically from the back court, Kobe Bryant has been voted in to what seems like his 50th All-Star game (it’s actually his 17th). That being said, Kobe has recently been diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and is questionable to play for the rest of the season (he was also out of the All-Star game last year due to injury). If that were the case, Coach Steve Kerr would decide on another back court player to go along with Steph Curry who led the league in votes this year with over 1.5 million votes.
If the starters this year tell us anything, it’s that small markets are beginning to grow with technology. The NBA has made it easier to vote every year. This year a simple PlayerName and #NBABallot on Twitter could suffice, as well as texting the vote or voting online. We saw it years ago where the Internet continued to support one player with preferential treatment (Yao Ming…), and now the Internet has expanded to show love to up and coming players.
