Where Kings’ stars rank in first round of NBA All-Star fan vote

Where Kings’ stars rank in first round of NBA All-Star fan vote originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It is election season once again.

The first 2024 NBA All-Star fan voting return was released on Thursday, and the Kings are on the outside looking in ahead of this year’s game at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox and forward Domantas Sabonis are ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, as members of the backcourt and guards. Notably, first-year Kings wing — and six-time All-Star — DeMar DeRozan was nowhere to be found among the Western Conference’s top 10 players at either position, despite the 6-foot-6 wing averaging 20.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists for his 15-19 squad.

Fox, whose lone All-Star appearance came during the 2022-23 season, earned 132,937 votes and placed ahead of Devin Booker (120,602) and Norman Powell (110,222). During the 2024-25 NBA season, Fox is averaging career highs in points (26.8) and rebounds (5.0) with a strong 6.2 assists per game. Still, he ranks behind Ja Morant (213,780), James Harden (314,452), Anthony Edwards (411,749), Kyrie Irving (503,567), Steph Curry (810,357), Luka Dončić (870,071) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1,053,683).

Sabonis, a three-time All-Star, collected 148,810 votes, only ranking ahead of Jaren Jackson Jr. (103,142). Like Fox, Sabonis is averaging career highs in points (20.6) and rebounds (13.8), with 6.1 assists. He trails Andrew Wiggins (187,530), Jalen Williams (188,722), Alperen Sengun (314,223), Victor Wembanyama (928, 501), Anthony Davis (999,540), LeBron James (1,167,661), Kevin Durant (1,268,799) and Nikola Jokić (1,422,121).

The league’s first voting return is interesting, to say the least.

Nevertheless, Fox and Sabonis — and maybe DeRozan — likely would receive more recognition for their career seasons if the Kings were better. Sacramento hovering around the bottom of the Western Conference and being days removed from firing coach Mike Brown probably doesn’t move the needle enough for the casual fan.

More voting returns are to come, though. The NBA followed its release of Thursday’s return by saying the next batch will be shared on Thursday, Jan. 9.

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