Isaiah Thomas is in the midst of a prolific season, but he still has some work to do if he wants to become an All-Star starter.
The NBA on Thursday released its second voting update for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, and the Boston Celtics point guard still sits fourth on the list among Eastern Conference guards, with 401,671 votes.
The East guards ahead of Thomas are DeMar DeRozan (453,538 votes), Dwyane Wade (514,866) and Kyrie Irving (971,362). Celtics guard Avery Bradley held his spot at No. 10 with 64,157 votes.
If voting ended Thursday, Irving and Wade would start in the East’s backcourt at the All-Star Game, scheduled for Feb. 19 in New Orleans.
Irving is deserving of that honor amid another strong season, but Wade might be a different story. He’s averaging 18.7 points, 3.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game for the Chicago Bulls, while both DeRozan (28.2 points, 3.8 assists, 5.4 rebounds per game) and Thomas (28.2 points, 6.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds per game) have him beat in several statistical categories.
Of course, fan voting doesn’t always come down to the numbers, and Wade — a household NBA name for over a decade — certainly has a leg up in the popularity contest.
Fans still have time to change these results, though. All-Star voting is open until Jan. 16, and fans can vote for a player on Twitter using the hashtag #NBAVote and the player’s full name and/or Twitter handle.
Thumbnail photo via Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
