NBA All-Star Voting: Joel Embiid Fourth Among Frontcourt Players

We think very highly of Joel Embiid here at Liberty Ballers, if you couldn’t tell by now. But I’d be lying if I said I expected things to move this fast during his first NBA season, first season of basketball in two-plus years and sixth total year playing basketball in his life.

But here we are, in January of his first professional season, and, yeah, there he is, sandwiched between Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony in the first All-Star voting returns.

Kyle laid out the case for Embiid to be an All-Star already, and it’s in plain view. His scoring ability from all three levels with power and finesse despite his relative experience has been absurd. His defensive impact despite shouldering the third-highest usage rate in the NBA (36.1), behind only Russell Westbrook (41.6) and DeMarcus Cousins (37.2), has been unprecedented. And, I mean, come on:

The dude might be the most blissfully self-aware budding superstar in professional sports. Falling short to Kevin Love wouldn’t do that smile justice. So go vote for him. He’s had a hell of a ride to get this point; he deserves it. And Sixers fans deserve it too, for every Malcolm Thomas brick and Darius Johnson-Odom turnover.

His best chance of breaking in has to be with the fan vote behind him, and he’s pretty damn close right now. So get on Twitter, Facebook or the NBA’s All-Star voting page and make it happen.