LaMelo Ball got more love from fans than media

The starting lineups for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco were unveiled and we learned some interesting notes in the process.

There were a few notable snubs from the starting five (including LaMelo Ball) and those players will have to earn an All-Star nod based on voting from coaches in their conference.

But the NBA is incredibly transparent about how the decisions were made. Each score is weighted based on 50 percent for the fan vote, 25 percent for the player vote, and 25 percent for the media vote.

The league office releases exactly how many votes each player received from the fans, other players, and select media.

We separated the publicly-available data and isolated how every player in the league performed in each category using the number of votes received rather than rank. Then we sorted results using standardization to determine where individuals performed better than they did in other categories.

One interesting takeaway is that the biggest difference was how much voting Ball for from fans relative to how little he got from the media. You can read more about this from Stephen Noh on Sporting News. Ball finished third-best among East guards by fans and seventh by media.

If he had received two more votes from media he would have earned a spot in the starting lineup.

Otherwise, the largest difference in the results was how much voting Kevin Durant received from other players compared to how little he got from the media.

He ranked second among West forwards by his fellow peers and fifth by the media. His tenuous relationship with the media is well-documented but he is someone who clearly has the respect of his NBA colleagues.

On the other hand, however, another significant difference was the love that Donovan Mitchell got from the media compared to the fans. Perhaps there is simply not a strong voting presence in the small market of Cleveland, but the media helped Mitchell secure a spot in the starting lineup.

Stronger voting from players than media

1. Kevin Durant (PHX)
2. LeBron James (LAL)
3. Evan Mobley (CLE)
4. LaMelo Ball (CHA)
5. Trae Young (ATL)
6. Paolo Banchero (ORL)
7. Jaylen Brown (BOS)
8. Kyrie Irving (DAL)

Stronger voting from players than fans

1. Evan Mobley (CLE)
2. Jalen Brunson (NYK)
3. Donovan Mitchell (CLE)
4. Darius Garland (CLE)
5. Devin Booker (PHX)
6. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)
7. Trae Young (ATL)
8. Joel Embiid (PHI)