NBA News Wire

Curry tops James in All-Star voting

Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Updated15 Oct 2021

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry edged Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James as the fans’ No. 1 choice in voting for the NBA All-Star Game, according to results announced by the NBA on Thursday.

Thanks to a late surge that made up a deficit of 13,285 votes, Curry received 1,513,324 votes — more than the 1,470,483 received by James.

The 64th NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr will lead the Western Conference, and the Atlanta Hawks’ Mike Budenholzer will coach the Eastern Conference.

The Western Conference starters, as selected by fans: Curry, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol and Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin.

The Eastern Conference starters: James, New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, Chicago Bulls center Pau Gasol, Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and Washington Wizards guard John Wall.

Curry is the first Warrior to be named a starter in back-to-back All-Star Games since Chris Mullin in 1991-92.

Bryant is an All-Star for the 17th time, second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19). Bryant’s 280 points are the most in All-Star Game history.

His availability for the game — and the rest of the season — is in question, however, after he sustained a torn rotator cuff Wednesday night against New Orleans.

Davis, 21, is an All-Star for the second straight season. He received the most votes among frontcourt players in the Western Conference and is the youngest starter in this year’s game, which features five first-time starters and 10 starters from 10 teams.

It is the second All-Star Game for Marc Gasol and fifth for Griffin.

Marc and Pau Gasol, playing in his fifth game, will be the first brothers to start an NBA All-Star Game and the first brothers to appear in the same All-Star Game since Tom and Dick Van Arsdale did it in 1970 and 1971.

James, the top vote-getter last season, will start his 11th All-Star Game in 12 seasons.

It is the eighth game for Anthony, who is the 10th player to earn four All-Star selections with two teams (Denver and New York).

Wall is making his second straight All-Star appearance and is the first Washington starter since Gilbert Arenas in 2007.

It is the first All-Star appearance for Lowry, who becomes the first Raptor to start since Chris Bosh in 2008.

The NBA’s 30 coaches will select the reserves for the game. They must vote for seven players within their conference: two guards, three frontcourt players and two players of any position. Coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own teams. Reserves will be announced Jan. 29.

ALL-STAR VOTING RESULTS

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt

1. LeBron James (Cle) 1,470,483

2. Pau Gasol (Chi) 974,177

3. Carmelo Anthony (NY) 647,005

4. Marcin Gortat (Was) 570,005

5. Chris Bosh (Mia) 542,006

6. Kevin Love (Cle) 386,208

7. Jonas Valanciunas (Tor) 231,741

8. Joakim Noah (Chi) 203,718

9. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) 129,293