Warriors notebook: All-Star fan vote returns and latest on Kuminga and J. Green
BOSTON — The latest NBA All-Star fan vote returns, released Thursday, has five Warriors players among the top 20 players in the Western Conference with just days left for fans to submit their votes.
Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson have all cracked the list with fan voting coming to an end Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Curry is poised to make his ninth All-Star appearance as he leads all Western Conference guards, garnering 5.151 million fan votes. Thompson, meanwhile, has the fifth-most votes among the conference’s backcourt candidates with 1.222 million.
Wiggins checked in with 2.158 million votes, the fifth most among the conference’s frontcourt players. Green (981,695 votes) and Looney (692,095) aren’t too far behind, sitting in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
The top two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference will be starters for the 2023 All-Star game, which is scheduled to take place Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to determine who will start the upcoming All-Star Game. Meanwhile, current NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each. The top vote-earners in each conference as of Saturday night will be selected as team captains, who will draft the top 10 stars from either conference to be on their team.
As of Thursday, Lakers forward LeBron James, who’s been a team captain in every All-Star game since the new format’s debut in 2018, leads the league in votes with 6.506 million. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo recently jumped Nets forward Kevin Durant to lead the Eastern Conference fan voting. Antetokounmpo has earned 5.970 million votes, while Durant has 5.838 million.
Once starters are decided, the 30 NBA coaches vote to select 14 reserves sent to the All-Star game. Two guards, three frontcourt players and two players at any position from each conference are selected as reserves.
Wiggins made his All-Star debut as a starter last season, and Green is looking to make his fifth career All-Star appearance. He was selected as a reserve last season but didn’t participate because of an injury.
Thompson could earn his sixth All-Star nod and first since the 2018-19 season. Looney has yet to make an All-Star appearance.
Latest on injuries
Coach Steve Kerr said there’s a “good chance” Jonathan Kuminga and JaMychal Green will be cleared to play Friday in Cleveland, the second night of a back-to-back.
Kuminga has missed the last eight games, including Thursday’s NBA Finals rematch in Boston, with a sprained foot. And Green hasn’t played since entering the league’s health and safety protocols before Christmas. A subsequent infection in his right leg requiring him to be briefly hospitalized has resulted in Green missing 14 consecutive games.
Their injuries, as well as James Wiseman being out with a sprained ankle, has resulted in a thin frontcourt, with the Warriors relying heavily on Draymond Green, Looney and Anthony Lamb to man the frontcourt.
Kuminga and JaMychal Green scrimmaged in practice Wednesday and had another tough workout before Thursday’s game in Boston.
“I think there’s a good chance they’ll play tomorrow,” Kerr said. “But we won’t make that determination until tomorrow.”