After the second round of fan voting for the 2024-25 NBA All-Star Game, Damian Lillard is ranked third among Eastern Conference guards, behind LaMelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell. As the Milwaukee guard looks to pick up his ninth All-Star selection, Bucks frontman Giannis Antetokounmpo has urged fans to vote.
In a post to 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 inserted Antetokounmpo’s story into his own, adding:
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“Put me on sir lol”
Lillard is just over 161,500 votes out of second place, while Antetokounmpo leads not only in Eastern Conference Frontcourt voting, but also among 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 coaches from around the league, with each conference selecting seven reserve players.
Ahead of February’s All-Star weekend, the starters will be announced on TNT on January 23, with the reserves announced on January 30 during the network’s TNT NBA Tip-Off show.
Looking at Damian Lillard’s case for an All-Star selection this season
As previously mentioned, Damian Lillard is currently ranked third among guards in the Eastern Conference. With LaMelo Ball nearly 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 becomes whether Damian Lillard can overtake Donovan Mitchell to secure his spot as an All-Star starter, or whether he should hope for a backup spot.
If the current standings hold and Donovan Mitchell secures the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 starting spot, Lillard still has a strong case to earn his ninth All-Star selection.
Lillard is averaging 24.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
At the same time, he has improved both his field goal percentage and 3-point percentage from last year while helping Milwaukee to fifth place in the Eastern Conference despite a slow start to the season.
As evidenced by fan votes, both Jalen Brunson and Trae Young, along with Lillard, have cases to be selected as All-Star reserves for Eastern Conference guards. Brunson has helped 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, with the Hawks ranked ninth in the East, Young leads the league with 12.2 assists per game, a notable jump from his 10.8 apg average last season. Additionally, Young is averaging 22.6 points and 1.3 steals per game on 40.1% from the floor.
Considering that while Damian Lillard has a strong case to be selected as the Eastern Conference guard, it’s clear that there is stiff competition.
Edited by Evan Bell