After the second return of fan voting for the 2024-25 NBA All-Star Game. Damian Lillard ranks third among Eastern Conference guards behind LaMelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell. As the Milwaukee guard looks to earn his ninth All-Star selection, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo urged fans to vote.
In a post on his Instagram story Thursday morning, The Greek Freak posted a picture of himself and Lillard on the court, urging fans to vote for his fellow Milwaukee native.
In response, Lillard posted Antetokounmpo’s story on his own story, adding:
•
“Give me a boost sir lol”
Lillard is just over 161,500 votes out of second place, while Antetokounmpo leads not only the Eastern Conference Frontcourt Vote but all players in the league when it comes to the fan vote.
The starters for both teams are chosen based on votes from fans, NBA players and the media. Reserve players are then selected based on votes from coaches from around the league, with each conference selecting seven reserves.
Ahead of All-Star Weekend in February, the rookies will be announced on Jan. 23 on TNT and the reserves will be announced on Jan. 30 during the TNT NBA Tip-Off broadcast.
Looking at Damian Lillard’s case for an All-Star selection this season
As previously mentioned, Damian Lillard currently ranks 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, he seems likely to earn his second All-Star selection.
Now the question is whether Damian Lillard can overtake Donovan Mitchell and guarantee him a spot as an All-Star starter, or if he has to hope for a spot as a backup.
If the current order holds and Donovan Mitchell secures the second starting spot in the Eastern Conference, 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 improved both his field goal percentage and his 3-point percentage from last year while helping lead Milwaukee to a fifth-place finish in the Eastern Conference despite a slow start to the season.
As indicated by fan votes, along with Lillard, both Jalen Brunson and Trae Young have cases to be selected as All-Star reserves for the Eastern Conference guards. Brunson helped lead the Knicks to third place in the East while averaging 25.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists on 47.7% from the floor.
In Young’s case, while the Hawks are ninth in the East, Young is leading the league with 12.2 assists per game, a significant 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% shooting from the floor.
That being said, while Damian Lillard has a strong case to be picked as the Eastern Conference guard, it’s clear that there is some stiff competition.
Edited by Evan Bell
