<\/p>\n
Josh Giddey has entered the All-Star conversation.<\/p>\n
Giddey featured among the top 40 vote-getters in the NBA\u2019s first release of the fan-voting for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
The league released the top 20 players in either conference, with the Aussie coming in at No. 14 in the East with exactly 115,000 votes to date in his bid for his first All-Star nod.<\/p>\n
Watch NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream an average 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs.| New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n That has the 23-year old ahead of the likes of Joel Embiid, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner in the conference, while Giddey also polled more votes than Jimmy Butler, Chet Holmgren and Kawhi Leonard in the West. <\/p>\n Giannis Antetokounmpo (1,192,296 votes) is the current vote leader in the East ahead of Tyrese Maxey (1,072,449), Jalen Brunson (1,040,601), Cade Cunningham (1,000,171) and Donovan Mitchell (851,511).<\/p>\n Luka Doncic (1,249,518) has the most overall votes as the leader in the West, with Nikola Jokic (1,128,962), Steph Curry (1,031,455), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (878,621) and Victor Wembanyama (769,362) rounding out the conference\u2019s top five.<\/p>\n LeBron James (536,555) is surprisingly ranked ninth in the West, meaning the revered icon\u2019s run of 21-straight years of being voted an All-Star starter is in serious peril.<\/p>\n James\u2019 2003\/2004 rookie season was the only time he didn\u2019t play in the All-Star game up until the legendary superstar, who turns 41 later this week, missing the 2025 exhibition due to injury. <\/p>\n It comes after James polled the second-most votes of any player in the West last season and hauled the most votes in the West in 2024.<\/p>\n The Lakers veteran, who\u2019s been down on his enormous best heights but is still averaging 20.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game in a career-low 32.9 minutes, missed the first 14 games of this season due to a sciatica injury.<\/p>\n Fan voting for the 2026 game, which closes on January 15, makes up 50 per cent of the final tally to determine the All-Star starters, with the other 50 per cent split between the media and player votes.<\/p>\n Seven reserves from either conference will then be decided by the head coaches in a new round of voting.<\/p>\n Under the new USA v World round-robin format, the 24 players chosen will be split into three teams \u2014 two entirely American teams \u2014 featuring a minimum eight-man rosters with no positional limitations. <\/p>\n If there\u2019s an uneven 18-6 split, NBA commissioner Adam Silver will name extra players to get to the minimum 16 Americans or the minimum eight international players. That would result in at least one team having more than eight players.<\/p>\n So while Giddey is a fair way down from being one of the five guaranteed All-Stars in the East, it\u2019s still a strong endorsement of his career-best season to date and bodes well for his prospects of being considered a reserve.<\/p>\n Particularly if teams of some players currently ahead of him in voting like Pascal Siakam\u2019s Pacers or Michael Porter Jr\u2019s Nets go into tank mode as the season progresses and the 15-16 Bulls can keep up their recent turnaround.<\/p>\n The Aussie guard has lived up to $100 million contract signed in the off-season, averaging 19.5 points, 9.2 assists, and 9.5 rebounds per game with just under two threes on 39 per cent shooting. Only Jokic (16) has more triple-doubles than Giddey (seven) this season.<\/p>\n Bulls coach Billy Donovan recently suggested Giddey still has the potential to level up, particularly on the defensive end, to become a more complete player.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can put his fingerprints all over the game,\u201d Donovan said. <\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t even mentioned the defensive part, because of his size, I do think he\u2019s got the potential to guard multiple positions. At 23 years old, that\u2019s the growth that he needs. I think if you look at the individual growth in terms of just his raw numbers, he\u2019s gotten better every single year.\u201d<\/p>\n