Celtics' Jayson Tatum Surpasses Joel Embiid in NBA All-Star Votes
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Joel Embiid is no longer in third place regarding the Eastern Conference’s All-Star fan votes for frontcourt prospects. With the second wave of votes revealed, Embiid has been surpassed by Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.
Last week, Embiid sat behind Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant. Those two remain in the first two slots with over 4 million votes.
Meanwhile, Tatum’s 3,281,124 was high enough to surpass Embiid’s current total of 3,248,733 votes.
The emergence of Tatum doesn’t come as a shock. All season long, the Celtics' star forward has been in the MVP conversation. At this point in the season, Tatum’s averaging 31 points, four assists, and eight rebounds while shooting 35 percent from three. Tatum’s Celtics are currently first in the Eastern Conference with a 30-12 record.
As for Embiid, he’s currently climbing up the MVP ladder. After a slower start to the year than desired, Embiid is now averaging 34 points per game, along with ten rebounds and four assists. He’s knocking down 34 percent of his threes and scoring on 53 percent of his field goal attempts.
James Harden Remains in Third
The Sixers’ other All-Star candidate James Harden hasn’t moved at all in the voting ranks. Last week, Harden was in third place, trailing Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell. That remains the case this week, as Harden has 1,571,039 votes.
Behind Harden are Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Atlanta’s Trae Young. While Brown is in the ballpark of Harden, the gap is wide enough to where it seems unlikely Brown will be another Celtics player to surpass a Sixer on the All-Star votes with the fan returns.
As a reminder, fans account for 50 percent of the vote to decide All-Star starters. Players and selected media will make up for the other 50 percent by splitting the voting duties in half. The league will offer the next voting update on January 19.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
