The Boston Celtics continue to have five players turning up in the third returns of the fan vote for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
In the East frontcourt race, swingman Jayson Tatum came in fifth with 1,622,635 votes, behind the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler’s 2,046,257 votes, and just ahead of teammate Tacko Fall.
The Senegalese center garnered 757,375 votes despite his status as a two way player, yet to start a game in his limited NBA career to date.
Veteran forward Gordon Hayward also registered 398,213 votes for an eighth-place finish among frontcourt nominees.
As for Boston’s representatives in the East backcourt race, with 1,797,633 votes All-NBA point guard Kemba Walker continues to trail second-place ex-Celtic Kyrie Irving (now with the Brooklyn Nets) by about 20,000 votes, with close to a 400,000 vote lead over the Detroit Pistons’ Derrick Rose.
He is joined by fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown, in seventh place with 718,355 votes, about 120,000 behind the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine and close to 90,000 ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons.
While there’s still time for Walker to be elevated to a starter by the fan vote, it’s looking more and more like Boston will have to depend on the coaches selecting reserves to send a multiplayer bid from their roster to this year’s All-Star game.
