Where Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving rank in All-Star 2025 voting

The fans have spoken in the first wave of voting, and some of the results may surprise you

As we turn the calendar on the New Year, NBA All-Star talk is beginning to heat up. The 2025 NBA All-Star game is set to take place on February 16^th at the Chase Center in San Francisco and the NBA has just released the first wave of fan voting returns, giving us some early insight as to who we’ll be seeing on display that night.

Leading the Eastern Conference, and overall voting, is Giannis Antetokounmpo with 1,710,630 fan votes. Trailing him in total votes by a touch more than 288,000, but leading the Western Conference, is Nikola Jokic with 1,422,121.

Before we dive too much deeper into the returns, let’s first have a quick look at how the overall voting process plays out, for context.

• 24 total players will be selected as All-Stars.
• 10 starters (5 from each Conference) are selected by fans representing 50% of the vote, current NBA players representing 25% of the vote, and a media panel representing 25% of the vote.
• 14 reserves (7 from each Conference) are selected by NBA Head Coaches.

The All-Star game voting has often come under fire by some fans who view it as nothing more than a popularity contest. Arguably the most egregious example of this was in 2011 when Yao Ming was voted as a starter despite not playing for the vast majority of the season. While the NBA has attempted to remedy this with the voting structure detailed above, there will no doubt be players who fall in the “snubbed” category each and every year. Let’s take a look at what the early voting returns can tell us.

Leading Fan Vote-Getter

Giannis Antetokounmpo (1,710,630)

Eastern Conference Leaders

Giannis Antetokounmpo (1,710,630) – Frontcourt

LaMelo Ball (947,444) – Guards

Western Conference Leaders

Nikola Jokic (1,422,121) – Frontcourt

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1,053,683) – Guards

Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic (870,071) – #2 in Western Conference Guards

Kyrie Irving (503,567) – #4 in Western Conference Guards

Snubs?

Norman Powell (110,222) – #10 in Western Conference Guards

Tyler Herro (125,251) – #9 in Eastern Conference Guards

General Assessments

• It’s difficult to argue with the top two vote-getters, or most of the top vote-getters in general. Players like Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Durant, Tatum, Alexander, Doncic, Ball and Mitchell all belong.
• Of those players, Ball may raise the most questions due to the overall performance of the Hornets so far, but a 30+ PPG scorer is going to get attention no matter what. There could also be some argument as to who deserves the number 1 spot, but generally speaking nothing seems too far out of sorts.
• Players like Alperen Sengun should give the naysayers hope that at least some NBA fans are not just voting on popularity metrics, though even he is still a far ways away from cracking the top 5 of West Frontcourt players.
• Despite the backing of one of the biggest markets (and overall populations), Jalen Brunson ranks 4th in East Guards with a sizable delta between him and Damian Lillard at #3. Brunson is also far behind his running mate Karl-Anthony Towns who cracked the million-vote mark.
• Norman Powell cracks the list, but does he deserve to be higher behind his 24 PPG and 45% three-point percentage?
• Similarly, but in the East, Tyler Herro and his 24 PPG netted him the ninth spot for East Guards.
• Kyrie Irving getting some serious votes is nice to see for Mavs Nation. Kyrie has played very well so far this season, often without his super-star running mate Luka Doncic. While it may be tough, Kyrie is certainly deserving and will hopefully get the nod.

At the end of the day, when dealing with a depth of talent the likes of which the NBA has, someone is always going to look like they were snubbed. At the same time, the players above those snubs certainly have more than a legitimate case.

Let us know what you think of the early returns in the comments below!