SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – None of the three candidates for the Utah Jazz All-Star was named holder of the March 7 event.
All-Star holders were announced Thursday night on TNT, and neither Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert nor Mike Conley won an early nod, despite taking Jazz to the NBA’s best record by the time the voting ended.
In the west, guards Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks were named holders in the backcourt. Los Angeles Lakers striker LeBron James, Los Angeles Clippers striker Kawhi Leonard and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were the first to enter the attacking court.
James led all the vote winners, receiving 5.9 million votes, and will serve as a captain alongside Brooklyn Nets striker Kevin Durant, the top vote winner in the East, to select his teams from the full All-Stars list.
James and Durant must complete their lineups by selecting holders first and end their lineups by choosing the remaining All-Star reservations that will be named on Tuesday.
Both Gobert and Mitchell are strong favorites to be named All-Stars due to Jazz’s mid-season success. Both players were nominated for their first All-Star teams last season.
Mitchell led the vote for Jazz players. He received the fourth highest number of votes among fans and the media to start with the Western Conference playoff team and was fifth among the players.
Gobert was 12th in the fan vote for frontline players, seventh in the player vote and fourth in the media.
Conley faces an uphill battle to be named to his first All-Star team, a fight that has become more difficult after losing the last six games with a hamstring injury.
But while Jazz will not see any of its players in the starting lineup, coach Quin Snyder will be at the front and center of the festivities. The Jazz player was named coach of the West after taking Jazz to an NBA best 24-5 record to open the season.
Participants in the Eastern Conference will be Bradley Beal, from Washington Wizards, Kyrie Irving, Durant, from Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid, from Philadelphia 76ers.
Jazz hasn’t had an All-Star starter in over two decades. Karl Malone made his game debut in 1998, coincidentally in the last season when Jazz reached the NBA finals.