Once again, the NBA All-Star Game is expected to be filled with former Kentucky Wildcats.

On Monday afternoon, the league announced the first batch of 2026 NBA All-Star Game fan votes. A total of six UK alums — four from the Western Conference, two from the Eastern Conference — were listed among the top 40 (20 from each conference) vote-getters, including a surprise ‘Cat at the top.

Below are the results with the number of votes attached:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Yes, that is sixth-year Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey sitting in second place among Eastern Conference fan voting with over 1 million votes. He’s the highest American-born player on the list and is the fourth-highest vote-getter in this first batch of votes, trailing only Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic — ever heard of ’em?

To boot, Maxey received more votes than the likes of Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, and Victor Wembanyama, not to mention the reigning MVP of the NBA, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who checks in with the fourth-most votes among all Western Conference players. Maxey is currently averaging 30.7 points, 6.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in a league-leading 39.7 minutes per contest.

Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo lead their conferences in the first fan returns in NBA All-Star Voting 2026.

Fans (50% of the vote) join NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%) in selecting five players in each conference honored as starters.

Next fan update: 1/6. pic.twitter.com/pHykl9yhTE

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 29, 2025

Considering the fan voting aspect of the All-Star Game is more or less a popularity contest, it’s not that shocking to see Maxey so high and Gilgeous-Alexander so low. Maxey is considered to be among the most likable players in the entire league, while SGA has become an easy target for social media trolls who hardly pay attention to the sport. He’s also the best player on the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, which is off to another hot start this season. Gilgeous-Alexander is neck-and-neck with Jokic right now as the MVP frontrunner.

Also out West, we have the trio of Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray, and Devin Booker in the mix. Davis has been productive when active for the Mavericks, but has played just 16 out of 33 possible games so far this season. It’s highly unlikely he’ll get voted in as a starter by the players/media, barring an excellent month of January. Murray and Booker could both make the final cut, though. Murray is having his best season as a pro yet (a career-high 25.4 PPG) for a good Nuggets squad, while Booker has led a surprisingly impressive start for the Suns.

Karl-Anthony Towns feels like he’ll ultimately end up as a lock to make the All-Star Game. His counting stats aren’t as high as his All-NBA season in 2024-25, but they’re on par with his All-Star appearance in 2023-24, and he’s still playing high-level basketball for a Knicks team that is second in the East with a 22-9 record. I also won’t be shocked if the likes of Julius Randle (MIN) and/or De’Aaron Fox (SAS) end up with their names on the fan vote ballot in the next update, which comes out on Jan. 6.

As has been the case for years now, fans receive 50 percent of the vote for picking the All-Star Game starters, with the media and NBA players splitting the remaining 50 percent. Tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 30) will count as a 3-for-1 day, where every single vote is counted three times. You can vote for your favorite ‘Cat here. This year’s All-Star Game format will play out differently than usual, too. Two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games.