Minnesota Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards did everything required to earn an NBA All-Star starting nod this season. The voting didn't reward it.
When the NBA announced the Western Conference starters Monday, Anthony Edwards was left out despite producing the best season of his career. Edwards finished seventh in fan voting with 1.96 million votes, which ultimately kept him from cracking the top five under the league's weighted system.
Fan voting accounted for 50 percent of the starter selection, with current players and media each contributing 25 percent. With no positional restrictions for the first time, the West's starting five became Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, and Stephen Curry.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Doncic were clear locks. Wembanyama's inclusion was not shocking given his league-wide pull, even with just 28 games played. The more debatable decision came down to Curry versus Edwards. At 37, Curry's selection leaned heavily on popularity and legacy. Edwards has been better statistically and owns a stronger team resume at the midpoint of the season.
Edwards finished fourth in player voting and fifth in media voting, but the fan vote dragged him down to seventh overall. He ultimately lost a weighted tiebreaker to Wembanyama because of that gap.
At 24, Edwards is delivering a true superstar campaign. The Minnesota Timberwolves sit fourth in the West at 27–16, and Edwards is averaging 29.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. He ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring, is shooting over 50 percent from the field for the first time, and is knocking down nearly 42 percent from three on heavy volume.
The efficiency spikes even more late. Edwards is 33-of-46 from the field and 11-of-18 from three in clutch time, final five minutes within five points, numbers that place him squarely in the Clutch Player of the Year conversation. He has already posted 17 games of 30-plus points, seven games of 40 or more, and a career-high 55-point outing Saturday against San Antonio.
Minnesota beat writer Jon Krawczynski summed up the frustration on social media:"Interesting how this played out. Edwards voted a starter by players AND media, but not fans. Wemby voted a starter by media only, not fans or players, but IS a starter. Fan vote carries that much more weight."
Edwards is a lock to be named a reserve when those selections are announced later, marking his fourth All-Star appearance. But the snub underscores a familiar reality: performance alone doesn't always win the vote. But maybe this will be act as more bulletin board material for a 24-year-old that has already led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals
Newsweek