We can take Chris Paul’s brilliance as a point guard for granted because he’s the guy throwing the lobs, not the guy finishing the highlight play. Paul can score and take over a game, but his mastery of the point guard play is subtler than that — he takes over games by dictating flow and style a contest better than any other guard in the game right now. It’s not about making plays that end up in highlight packages, it’s about getting the ball where it needs to be, about creating and exploiting mismatches wherever they are.
Stephen Curry is a very good point guard but when he takes over a game he’s a walking highlight package, raining threes from across the Bay Bridge at Oracle Arena. He is one of the most marketable players in the association.
Fans have voted Curry past Paul as an NBA All-Star Game starter in the Western Conference backcourt — but only by 26,000 votes, few enough that this could swing again. Both Curry and Paul trail Kobe Bryant by a healthy amount in the West — if Kobe is not yet healthy and able to play by the Feb. 16 All-Star Game in New Orleans David Stern gets to select his replacement. However, the Western Conference coach will choose who starts (he would be the coach of the team with the best record in the conference on Feb. 2).
The fans elect the starters for the All Star Game and this is who they have put in so far:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Backcourt: Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Frontcourt: LeBron James (Miami Heat), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Backcourt: Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
Frontcourt: Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets), Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers).
As you see in the vote tallies below, the Eastern Conference starters are basically locked in place. In the West there is one other race of interest — Kevin Love (with his video campaign) trails Blake Griffin by 17,000 votes for the final starting slot in the West frontcourt. Voters have two more weeks to make it that ground or Griffin gets the starting nod.
Here are the vote totals:
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1. LeBron James (Mia) 1,076,063
2. Paul George (Ind) 899,671
3. Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 702,869
4. Roy Hibbert (Ind) 385,964
5. Chris Bosh (Mia) 304,986
6. Kevin Garnett (BKN) 164,021
7. Joakim Noah (Chi) 128,201
8. Andre Drummond (Det) 120,844
9. Tyson Chandler (NYK) 101,637
10. Jeff Green (Bos) 96,336
Backcourt
1. Dwyane Wade (Mia) 718,109
2. Kyrie Irving (Cle) 652,522
3. Derrick Rose (Chi) 323,099
4. John Wall (Was) 278,516
5. Ray Allen (Mia) 190,086
6. Rajon Rondo (Bos) 133,448
7. Deron Williams (BKN) 95,309
8. George Hill (Ind) 89,428
9. Lance Stephenson (Ind) 77,364
10. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 68,985
Western Conference
Frontcourt
1. Kevin Durant (OKC) 1,054,209
2. Dwight Howard (Hou) 509,116
3. Blake Griffin (LAC) 500,964
4. Kevin Love (Min) 483,031
5. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 404,793
6. Tim Duncan (SAS) 385,342
7. Anthony Davis (NO) 223,956
8. Pau Gasol (LAL) 207,213
9. Andre Iguodala (GS) 192,616
10. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 156,792
Backcourt
1. Kobe Bryant (LAL) 844,538
2. Stephen Curry (GS) 677,372
3. Chris Paul (LAC) 651,073
4. Jeremy Lin (Hou) 471,980
5. James Harden (Hou) 338,788
6. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 260,499
7. Tony Parker (SA) 195,328
8. Damian Lillard (Por) 162,363
9. Klay Thompson (GS) 108,404
10. Ricky Rubio (Min) 97,265
