Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson’s all-star chances worsen

The fan vote for the 2016 all-star game might be Reggie Jackson’s undoing.

I recently broke down Reggie Jackson’s 2016 all-star chances. My research indicated that Detroit Pistons’ point guard Reggie Jackson had a really good chance of making the game as long, as one thing didn’t happen.

Care to guess what the “X factor” was?

I’ll give you a brief excerpt:

"“As for Irving, he has yet to even play a game this season which should make it extremely difficult for him to leapfrog Jackson.”"

Not only did Kyrie Irving leapfrog Jackson, he leapfrogged every Eastern Conference guard not named Dwyane Wade–who leads the Eastern Conference guards by a wide margin in voting.

As of December 25, when the NBA released its official all-star ballot, Irving was second in votes among Eastern Conference guards–over 10,000 votes ahead of the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, who’s in third place.

To this I say, “really NBA fans?(!) Reeaally?”

I’m shocked.

Forget the argument for Jackson for a minute; how is Irving ahead of Lowry– who’s played 30 more games and has an entire nation of voters on his side?

Irving has played in four games, averaging 13 points, three assists, 1.5 rebounds, and one steal.

Lowry has played 34 games and is averaging 20.6 points, 6.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.2 steals.

Even their per 36 minutes tilt in Lowry’s favor.

It appears the Canadian vote is about all the votes Lowry is receiving right now.

Here’s how the ballot looks right now for the Eastern Conference guards:

1 Dwyane Wade (Mia) 300,595
2 Kyrie Irving (Cle) 138,191
3 Kyle Lowry (Tor) 128,131
4 Jimmy Butler (Chi) 111,220
5 John Wall (Was) 103,094
6 Derrick Rose (Chi) 72,709
7 DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 69,042
8 Jeremy Lin (Cha) 61,832
9 Isaiah Thomas (Bos) 45,014
10 Nicolas Batum (Cha) 20,596

Let’s get back to how this impacts Jackson’s all-star chances.

The fan vote doesn’t have Jackson in the top 10, but that doesn’t really matter–he likely wasn’t going to get in as a starter anyway.

If the above trend continues, Irving will make it as an all-star starter.

Irving making the all-star team means a player who wasn’t even considered to make the all-star team will–though I suppose it’s possible that Irving could have made it as a reserve. (It’s unlikely given his limited number of games in comparison to the other candidates).

This also means that one player who would have started the game–like a Jimmy Butler, or John Wall–is now forced into a voting battle between the coaches.

Reggie Jackson now has to beat out at least one of Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, DeMar DeRozan, and Nicolas Batum to guarantee an all-star spot.

If six guards get in like last year, Jackson will still have a tough road ahead with Butler, Lowry, and Wall near locks for the game.

Personally, I’d vote Butler, Lowry, and Wall in ahead of Jackson at this point. Two weeks ago I wouldn’t have put Wall ahead of Jackson, but he’s starting to playing better and the Wizards are moving up in the standings.

Some coaches might consider Thomas over Jackson too–both are nearly identical in stats, and their teams share nearly identical records.

This all to say that Jackson’s all-star chances have worsened. Most notably because of the inclusion of Kyrie Irving.

Luckily this is a fluid situation and Jackson still has plenty of time to prove he deserves to be in the game.

To help Jackson, you should not only vote for him, but for Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry too, by clicking here.