Fox voices off on Domantas Sabonis being snubbed in All-Star voting

The first returns from the fan All-Star voting were released on January 4. Many names on the list were no surprise and most teams saw their stars in favorable positions. 

Kings fans are not excited, however. Their star guard, De’Aaron Fox, is on the list, ranked eighth among Western Conference guards, but should be much higher. He is the sixth-leading scorer in the NBA, averaging almost 30 points per game and leading one of the top five seeds in the West.

Nevertheless, Ja Morant, who just returned from his 25-game suspension, youngster Anthony Edwards, and Kyrie Irving, who has only played 19 games so far, all received more votes than him. 

To top that off, Kings big man Domantas Sabonis is nowhere to be found among the ten frontcourt players in the West with the most votes. 

Sabonis deserves more respect for what he does on the court

The West is packed with great frontcourt players and star power. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi Leonard are all great players, but Sabonis should be right there with them. 

He is currently averaging 19.7 points on almost 60 percent shooting from the field, 12.9 rebounds to lead the entire NBA, and 7.6 assists. So far, he has collected eight triple-doubles for the season, including six in his last ten games. Only Nikola Jokic has recorded more.

As if that wasn’t enough yet, Sabonis is averaging 20.5 points, 19.5 rebounds, and 89.8 assists over his last four games. Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor are the only other players to average 20/19/9 over a four-game stretch. 

Kings fans already knew on Thursday that Sabonis was being snubbed in the fan voting, but after his 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists performance last night, De’Aaron Fox spoke on it as well. 

He credited the big man for doing so many different things for the Kings, from initiating the offense to fighting on the glass. When asked about the All-Star votes, Fox stated that Sabonis obviously belonged in the game. 

“He’ll get in. Coaches will do the right thing,” he added, once again stressing that fans aren’t giving his teammate enough respect.