It's not surprising Simmons finished behind starters Irving and Walker, who are established veterans and the number one stars of their respective teams, the Celtics and Hornets, who happen to be hosting the All-Star Game in Charlotte. Irving is averaging 23.5 points a game heading into Thursday night and Walker is putting up 25. Wade is in the final year of his legendary career, so it's understandable if fans want to see Wade in an All-Star Game one more time. Simmons stats across the board are much more balanced than any of those three because Simmons is nearly averaging a triple-double on a team with Embiid, Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick. However, Simmons isn't close to Irving or Walker in terms of points, which for the Sixers guard is 16.6 per game.
What's eye opening is how fellow players and media members voted for Simmons. Players placed him placing fifth behind Irving, Walker, Bradley Beal and Victor Oladipo. The media put him third behind Irving and Walker. I'd figure Simmons would finish better amongst his peers who you'd think would be less hard on him for not featuring a respectable jump shot during games. Based on the votes though, it appears media members are much more forgiving for Simmons shortcoming than his players. Or maybe this is just a case of players feeling Beal and Oladipo, who's done for the season with an unfortunate quad injury, are having a better season than Simmons.
Either way, Simmons should get a reserve nod from his coaches. He's a star in the making, if not already a star, and is worthy of making the All-Star team based on his highlight reel play making ability. Not to mention, a team that's one of the top four squads in its conference should typically have more than one All-Star. The 76ers are not a one-man show in Embiid. In fact, they're a "Big 3," and in some cases a "Big 4," if you include Redick.
As far as Embiid is concerned, his starting nod isn't surprising, and same goes for him finishing third behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.
Jimmy Butler finished fifth amongst Eastern Conference front court players and will also need the blessing of the coaches to make the game as a reserve. I think Simmons has a better chance than Butler considering the reputation attached to Butler over the past couple of seasons. It might be hard for him to gather votes from coaches based the perception that he's difficult to deal with, whether true or not.
The 76ers should have three All-Star representatives in Embiid, Simmons and Butler. My guess is they'll have two, Embiid and Simmons.