Rookie Joel Embiid Near Top NBA All-Star Voting

Philadelphia 76ers Rookie Joel Embiid One of NBA Top Vote Getters

Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Joel Embiid is on minutes restrictions, load restrictions, and he’s playing for an NBA team that has plenty of challenges. But Joel Embiid is in the hunt for a slot in the NBA All-Star.

Per Basketball-Insiders, the NBA has released preliminary results, and those results are encouraging.

"For the first time ever, NBA players and basketball media will join fans in selecting the starters for the NBA All-Star Game. Fans will account for 50 percent of the vote, while all current players and a media panel will account for 25 percent each. Player and media voting will begin next week, with each participant completing one full ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players from both conferences.After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes. Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters. Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.So far, Joel Embiid is doing better than expected. While even a rookie of Embiid’s notoriety has only the slimmest of chances of appearing – per ALL STAR 2017 NBA All-Star First Ballot Results from basketballinsiders.com"

Voting for your favorite NBA player to the All-Star game is open until January 16, 2017

NBA ALL-STAR VOTING 2017 PRESENTED BY VERIZON

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt

1. LeBron James (CLE) 595,288
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 500,663
3. Kevin Love (CLE) 250,347
4. Joel Embiid (PHI) 221,984
5. Carmelo Anthony (NY) 189,817
6. Jimmy Butler (CHI) 189,066
7. Kristaps Porzingis (NY) 184,166
8. Paul George (IND) 138,332
9. Hassan Whiteside (MIA) 72,628
10. Jabari Parker (MIL) 64,141

Guards

1. Kyrie Irving (CLE) 543,030
2. Dwyane Wade (CHI) 278,052
3. DeMar DeRozan (TOR) 253,340
4. Isaiah Thomas (BOS) 193,297
5. Derrick Rose (NY) 129,924
6. Kyle Lowry (TOR) 128,940
7. John Wall (WAS) 87,360
8. Jeremy Lin (BKN) 59,562
9. Kemba Walker (CHA) 52,122
10. Avery Bradley (BOS) 32,822

Western Conference

Frontcourt

1. Kevin Durant (GS) 541,209
2. Zaza Pachulia (GS) 439,675
3. Kawhi Leonard (SA) 341,240
4. Anthony Davis (NO) 318,144
5. Draymond Green (GS) 236,315
6. DeMarcus Cousins (SAC) 202,317
7. Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) 125,278
8. LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) 101,724
9. Blake Griffin (LAC) 100,524
10. Marc Gasol (MEM) 97,370

Guards

1. Stephen Curry (GS) 523,597
2. James Harden (HOU) 519,446
3. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 501,652
4. Klay Thompson (GS) 293,054
5. Chris Paul (LAC) 173,830
6. Damian Lillard (POR) 117,857
7. Eric Gordon (HOU) 76,609
8. Manu Ginobili (SA) 65,832
9. Andre Iguodala (GS) 64,247
10. Zach LaVine (MIN) 53,642

While Embiid still has an uphill climb, there has been a true outpouring of NBA fans to petition the league to include him this year. Even more entertaining is the back story of Joel Embiid’s ambition to appear in the All-Star game this year. He had shared that his “crush” told him to come back when he is an All Star. Should he make it, we may discover who that “crush” is.

We can’t be certain who she might be…. but

Next: Will Rihanna Date All Star Joel Embiid?

The odds on favorite is that the “crush” is none-other than star singing performer Rhihanna.