Where do Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo stand in All-Star voting with less than week to vote?
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are still struggling to make up ground for starting nods in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
The two Miami Heat forwards are both outside of starting position in the latest round of fan voting for the upcoming All-Star Game. Butler remains in fourth among Eastern Conference frontcourt players, while Adebayo checks in at No. 7.
Butler still sits behind Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Toronto Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam and Philadelphia 76ers post player Joel Embiid. Adebayo is behind those three, Butler, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Celtics center Tacko Fall, who has played in just one NBA game this season.
Adebayo is far out of position to make a realistic run at starting the game with 529,244 votes, but Butler remains less than 400,000 votes behind Embiid for the third and final frontcourt starting spot.
Butler has gathered 2,046,257 votes. Embiid has 2,398,743 votes and Siakam, who has missed 13 of the Raptors’ last 15 games becauseof a groin injury, has 2,433,411. Antetokounmpo is the runaway leader in the East with 4,474,107 votes.
While fan voting is the biggest part of determining All-Star starters, it still only accounts for half of the equation, and current NBA players and a media panel each account for 25 percent of the vote. Voring closes Monday and starters, including two captains, will be revealed next Thursday on TNT. Reserves are selected by coaches and announced Jan. 30 on TNT. The game is next month in Chicago.
Butler missed out on the All-Star Game for the first time since 2015 last year when he was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the 76ers early in the season.
He has bounced back from a relatively down season and now leads the Heat (28-12) with 20.4 points and 6.4 assists per game. Adebayo, who has never been an All-Star, is averaging 15.8 points and 4.6 assists, and leading Miami with 10.4 rebounds per game.
The Heat entered Thursday with the second best record in the East behind only the Bucks.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 2:44 PM.
