Zach Lavine has led the Bulls in scoring in 31 of their 44 games this season and is averaging 25 points per game while shooting at 45% from the field. He’s the best player on the Bulls and looks to be getting better as the season goes on. It’s clear the Bulls are doing everything they can to get him into the All-Star game.
In the latest All-Star voting results, LaVine is 6th in voting for guards in the Eastern Conference. The way All-Star voting works the fan vote only comes into play with the starters. The top two guards and three frontcourt players for each conference are starters which are chosen by the two captains. Then to determine the remaining fourteen players all 30 coaches in the NBA vote on two guards, three frontcourt players, and two players at any position in their respective conference.
So where does that leave LaVine?
He will play the waiting game until rosters are released but he deserves to be on a roster. It’s hard to know how coaches will vote in these situations. If coaches vote based on recency bias then I could easily see Zach making this game. Over the last month, he has averaged 28.5 points per game and has shown some big highlight plays. Most recently his 21-point 4th quarter in a win over the Cavaliers on Saturday.
LaVine himself believes he deserves to be an All-Star but says his focus is on winning games and making the playoffs.
Surely the Bulls fanbase believes he deserves to be in the All-Star game this year and if he doesn’t make the roster it will be a huge snub. The hope is even if he doesn’t make the team he will at least participate in the dunk contest and represent the Bulls in some way during the All-Star break. The last day to vote is January 20th, barring a huge swing in votes LaVine will have to wait for the final roster to be released to see if he made it or not.
