The Wizards are on a win streak, but it’s not enough to win the fans’ hearts.
On Thursday, the NBA released the second fan returns of 2022 NBA All-Star fan voting. Like the first returns, no Washington Wizards were in the Top-10 among Eastern Conference guards or frontcourt players.
Stephen Curry (West guards), Kevin Durant (East frontcourt), DeMar DeRozan (East guards) and LeBron James (West frontcourt) continue to be the top vote-getters at their respective position groups in the second fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting presented by Tissot. pic.twitter.com/dAaVBHrXi5
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 13, 2022
At this point, it’s inevitable that the Wizards won’t have an All-Star starter. Fan voting only counts for 50 percent of the score of an All-Star starter, while the media gets 25 percent of the votes and the players get another 25 percent. I miss the days when fans alone got to pick the starters, because … the popular vote should matter, no matter what for a game like this. But I digress.
The results of NBA All-Star voting are just as remarkable because Bradley Beal (24 ppg and 6.4 apg), who received the most votes among all Eastern Conference guards last season, isn’t among the most popular guards in the East. And to add insult to injury, the Wizards are doing better this season (22-20 at around the midway point) than in 2020-21 (14-22 at the midway point of a 72-game regular season).
Perhaps Beal sneaks in the Top 10 thanks to the media and player vote, but it’s still discouraging to see that the Wizards are not a hit at the polls.