Ex-Cal Star Jaylen Brown Among Top Vote-Getters for NBA All-Star Game
Former Cal standout Jaylen Brown is getting a lot of votes in the fans' All-Star Game balloting, but unless he gets an avalanche of votes from fans in the next few days and receives support from players and the media, the Boston Celtics guard is unlikely to be a starter.
It would then be up to the coaches to determine whether he will make the Eastern Conference All-Star Game as a reserve.
The second round of fan balloting was released by the NBA this week, and Brown is fourth among Eastern Conference guards in the voting. However, he is quite a ways behind the top three.
Washington's Bradley Beal is the top vote-getter among Eastern Conference guards with 2,528,719 votes. Kyrie Irving of the Nets is next with 2,104,130, and teammate James Harden is third with 1,829,504. Brown is next with 1,062,888.
The fan vote accounts for 50 percent of the total vote to determine the starters for the NBA All-Star Game, which reportedly is scheduled for March 7. Current players and media members split the other 50 percent in determining starters. Each ballot consists of two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference.
Reserves are chosen by NBA head coaches. Commissioner Adam Silver chooses injury replacements if they are needed.
As of Saturday morning, Brown is 12th in the NBA in scoring, averaging 26.0 points per game. That ranks fourth among Eastern Conference guards who have played enough games to qualify, behind Beal, who leads the league at 32.8 points, Chicago's Zach LaVine (28.1) and Atlanta's Trae Young (26.5).
Brown is also averaging 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists. His 51.2 field-goal percentage is fourth-best in the NBA among guards, and he is shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range. Brown scored 27 points in Friday's loss to Detroit, which dropped Boston's record to 13-12.
Now in his fifth NBA season, Brown has never been named to the All-Star Game as a starter or as a reserve.
All-Star voting continues until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16, so there is not much voting time left. We're not telling you which player to vote for, but if you want to vote for Brown, go to the Celtics' All-Star voting site here.
After the starters and reserves are determined, All-Star captains will then draft their teams from the eligible pool of players, with starters being selected in the first round, and reserves being drafted in the second round.
The two captains will be the players who receive the most fan votes in each conference. The leaders in the fan vote as of this week are the Lakers' LeBron James and the Nets' Kevin Durant.
Here are some key dates.
Fan voting ends: Feb. 16 at 11:59 p.m. ET
All-Star starters announced: Feb. 18
All-Star reserves announced: Feb. 23
All-Star Draft: To be determined
2021 All-Star Game: March 7 (according to reports)
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Cover photo of Jaylen Brown by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports
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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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