Jayson Tatum is firmly in the NBA MVP conversation, but he may not be in the Eastern Conference's starting lineup for the All-Star Game.
The NBA released their first update for fan voting on Thursday, and Tatum finds himself fourth in frontcourt voting. The Celtics forward has 2,178,330 votes so far, putting him behind Brooklyn's Kevin Durant (3,118,545), Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo (2,998,327) and Philly's Joel Embiid (2,226,712).
Teammate Jaylen Brown, who is pushing for All-NBA consideration, also finds himself on the outside looking in, as he is currently fourth among guards with 1,032,522 votes. Brooklyn's Kyrie Irving (2,071,715), Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell (1,637,374) and Philly's James Harden (1,161,593) are ahead of him.
Fan voting is 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. Player voting and a media panel vote each account for 25%. Fan voting, which can be done here, is open until Jan. 21, with the starters getting announced on Jan. 26.
Tatum and Brown should both be safe bets to make the All-Star team, whether they're starters or not. Both are currently top-10 in the league in scoring, with Tatum fifth at 30.8 points per game and Brown 10th at 27.2 points per game. It would be Tatum's fourth All-Star appearance and Brown's second.
