If anyone on the Toronto Raptors is going to make the 2022 All-Star Game this season, the most likely candidate is point guard Fred VanVleet. Not only does he have Toronto back in the postseason picture, but he’s averaging career-best marks in most key offensive categories.
VanVleet is averaging 21.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game this season while helping the Raptors hang around the play-in range. After a very slow start to the season, Toronto has rebounded due to VanVleet’s excellence.
While Toronto might face long odds at getting a player to Cleveland for the All-Star game, they could be secure in the knowledge that VanVleet has numbers worthy of ASG consideration. Unfortunately, getting Fred to the All-Star game is reliant on the fan vote, and the early returns are very disheartening.
The first wave of fan votes came in, and it is an absolute travesty. VanVleet ranked 10th in fan votes, behind names like Darius Garland and Tyler Herro. The embarrassing part came when Derrick Rose, an average player that is currently injured, and Kyrie Irving, who has one game to his name, had twice as many votes as him.
A joke. Plain and simple.
Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Nets’ Kevin Durant lead the NBA’s first All-Star fan voting returns: pic.twitter.com/3812PFdcGb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 6, 2022
Toronto Raptors: Fred VanVleet was disrespected in All-Star Game voting.
This round of voting was so bad we can’t even engage in debates over the cases of similar players like VanVleet and Garland. What is the point when Irving and Rose are above them?
Rose is getting sympathy votes for an injury that happened a decade ago. He even managed to earn an MVP vote last year as a result of fan votes. If you voted for Rose, let us know, because that disqualifies you from talking about basketball until you change your mind.
Not only did Irving play a grand total of zero games prior to his season debut against Indiana, but he received more votes for the All-Star game than VanVleet and Garland combined. The league needs to fix this.
Kyrie Irving has more All-Star votes than Darius Garland and Fred VanVleet combined. pic.twitter.com/GrK8QiNvdC
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 6, 2022
The fact that Klay Thompson and Carmelo Anthony over Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton in the West was not the most egregious mistake made here shows what a joke fan voting has become. Stats and quality of play are being passed over in favor of getting big names in the game.
VanVleet might not be a lock for the All-Star game, but he has as deserving a case as anyone in the East. Toronto needs to hope that the players, media, and coaches come through for them, because the fact that he is so low is a scathing indictment of the voting process.