Darius Garland didn’t fair well in the All-Star starter voting.
Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching staff will be in San Francisco for the NBA All-Star Game. Mitchell was named a starter and Kenny Atkinson, with his staff, will serve as coaches for one of the four teams. Based on the final voting returns for the All-Star starters, Evan Mobley will likely be joining them. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, however, might not.
Three voting groups determined the starters for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game:
▪️ Fans (50%)
▪️ NBA players (25%)
▪️ Media panel (25%)Complete voting results are available here: https://t.co/mrjb1ziHai
Below are the overall scores for the top finishers at each position. pic.twitter.com/KXPIlK5XYc
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 24, 2025
The starters were determined by a combination of player, fan, and media voting. Based on that combination, Mobley ranked fifth in the frontcourt behind the three starters and Paolo Banchero. If that trend holds, he would make the team. Mobley was the only frontcourt player aside from the starters to receive any of the media’s votes.
Garland wasn’t as highly regarded. His weighted score had him as the seventh guard in the Eastern Conference. Based on how All-Stars are selected, there isn’t enough room for seven guards as the reserves are comprised of two guards, three front-court players, and two wildcards.
How the vote broke down for Garland is interesting. He finished eighth in the fan voting, but was third in media and fifth in player voting. Only the fans seemed to think that Garland wasn’t worthy of being an All-Star.
Allen finished eighth in front-court voting. That trend would have him not making the team as well. Allen has the most unlikely path of the three Cavaliers to make the team based on not having impressive scoring numbers.
The All-Star reserves will be selected by the coaches. Where the players finished in the final vote for starters may not be indicative of how they chose the remaining All-Stars. Their selections for the reserves will be revealed on Thursday, Jan. 30.
Garland and Mobley have had All-Star seasons and should be recognized as such. There’s a good chance both will make the team even if the voting for All-Star starters only has one of them in position to do so.
The All-Star Game will take place on Feb. 16 at 8 PM. The format will be a four-team, mini-tournament this year.