CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — Hornets guard LaMelo Ball ranks first among all Eastern Conference guards in All-Star voting, the NBA announced Thursday.
Ball, who’s averaging career-highs of 30.1 points and 4,5 3-pointers made per game, has 947,444 votes. The 23-year-old is also posting 5.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.3 steals across 22 appearances. His scoring average ranks fourth in the NBA and is on pace to set a Hornets single-season record.
It was the first return for fan voting for the 2025 All-Star Game. Ball is ahead of Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell (728,0384), Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard (704,914), New York’s Jalen Brunson (477,253) and Atlanta’s Trae Young (353,452).
Ball was named an All-Star in 2022, becoming the fourth-youngest player in league history (20 years, 182 days) to earn the honor, behind only Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson.
All-Star voting concludes on Monday, Jan. 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET, giving fans the opportunity to vote for the NBA All-Star Game starters via the NBA App and NBA.com with their NBA ID.
The game will be held Feb. 16 in San Francisco.
Ball’s high voting totals come as the Hornets (7-25) have the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. They play their first game of 2025 Friday at Detroit.
Ball has not played since Dec. 26 with ankle and wrist injuries.
The 10 players on pace to be selected as starters, based on fan ballots:
East
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee)
- Jayson Tatum (Boston)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (New York)
- LaMelo Ball (Charlotte)
- Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland)
West
- Nikola Jokic (Denver)
- Kevin Durant (Phoenix)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)
- Luka Doncic (Dallas)
- LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)