Pascal Siakam has spent most of this season in the largely thankless position of trying to carry an injury-riddled Pacers team that has started the season 6-26 after reaching last year’s NBA Finals.
But the first returns of All-Star fan voting show there’s at least some appreciation for what he’s been doing. According to the vote returns released Monday morning by NBA communications, Siakam — a three-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA pick — ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference with 155,910 votes.
For the first time this season, the fan vote is being held without regard to position, so to be chosen as a starter, Siakam would have to finish in the top five. Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell currently ranks fifth in the East with 851,155 votes so Siakam is a long way off from that. The coaches decide the reserves, so that’s an entirely different vote. Still, Siakam has made a strong All-Star case despite being on a last-place team.
Siakam leads the Pacers with 23.4 points per game and rebounds with 6.8 per game. His 3.8 assists per game are third on the team and the most behind points guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell. He also leads the team in steals with 1.3 per game.
Siakam is the only member of the Pacers in the top 25 of the fan voting. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, New York’s Jalen Brunson and Detroit’s Cade Cunningham hold the top four spots above Mitchell with each having already registered more than one million votes. Boston’s Jaylen Brown, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson rank 6-8 respectively.
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic ranks first among all players with 1,249,518 votes. He, Denver Nikola’s Jokic and Golden State’s Stephen Curry hold the top three spots in the West with more than a million votes each. Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama hold the No. 4 and No. 5 spot in the West.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.