Charlotte Hornets: Kemba Remains 9th Among Guards in the East for All-Star Voting
The second returns of the NBA’s All-Star votes are in and the Charlotte Hornets’ point guard wasn’t able to move up the list as he remained in ninth.
Kemba Walker is vying for his first-ever All-Star game appearance this year but he will need more help if he hopes to do so. NBA.com released the second returns of the All-Star fan votes and the Charlotte Hornets‘ point guard remained in ninth among Eastern Conference guards. Despite enjoying a career-year, a number of more “popular” players continue to get more votes than him.
LeBron James continues to be the top vote-getter among all players and the order of player stayed the same as the first returns for the most part. Aside from Kyle Lowry jumping Derrick Rose or Hassan Whiteside falling out of the top-10 for forwards, the East largely remained the same.
What kills Kemba in the voting is that more popular players like Derrick Rose and Jeremy Lin continue to get more votes because of their following. Even though Walker is putting up better numbers and playing for a better team. Luckily, his fellow peers and also media members should help him out as the players and NBA media account for 50% of the vote this season.
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The Hornets’ organization and front office members have been pushing hard for Kemba to receive more votes to make the team this season. After being snubbed last year, the team created a campaign to get him more votes with the “Walker, Charlotte Ranger” videos. They have helped as he has received more than 100,000 total votes but he is not even within shouting distance of Kyrie Irving who leads all Eastern Conference guards with 971,362 votes.
Despite averaging 23.1 points per game, 5.5 assists per game, and 4.2 rebounds per game this season, Kemba continues to get overlooked by the average fan. While guys who put up similar numbers like Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, and Kyle Lowry continue to get more votes than Walker, Charlotte’s best player can’t get the same level of recognition or attention that they do. Hopefully, the votes from players and media will help him out a bit.
Getting into the all-star game will be tougher than ever this season with a number of great guards in the East. It won’t be easy for Walker as guys like Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, and the other players I mentioned before are all worthy of making the squad. Kemba is deserving as well but someone has to get left off and if the Hornets continue to struggle before the All-Star break, it could be him.
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Team success plays a factor in who makes it so the Charlotte Hornets will need some strong performances before the voting ends. Kemba Walker definitely deserves to be higher up the list in terms of votes but as a popularity contest, he was never going to win. Still, there is a good chance for him to make his first ever All-Star game.