LeBron James is receiving uncharacteristically low All-Star vote totals, raising stunning questions about fan fatigue and the Lakers icon’s waning dominance.
The returns from the first round of 2026 NBA All-Star Game voting were released on Monday, and Association watchers had to scroll down a lot further than usual to see where LeBron James ranked.
According to the NBA’s PR team, James received just 536,555 votes from fans — a number that was roughly 70,000 less than the total Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija garnered.
The Lakers superstar came in at just ninth in the Western Conference, and a surprisingly low 15th overall.
James, of course, hasn’t exactly been deserving of significantly higher totals, as he’s played in just 14 games for Los Angeles this season while dealing with sciatica and a left foot ailment.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James (23) reacts on the court in the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
Still, the soon-to-be 41-year-old has been a face of the league for over two decades, and he has averaged 20.5 points, 6.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds in the games he’s been able to suit up for.
Plus, the Lakers are 20-10 and sit fourth in the Western Conference standings.
Two of James’ teammates found themselves in notable spots on Monday’s list. Luka Doncic topped all vote-getters with 1,249,518. Austin Reaves, meanwhile, landed just behind James at 10th in the West with 405,379.
In the Eastern Conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo held the No. 1 spot with nearly 1.2 million votes.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson rounded out the top five.
Lakers forward LeBron James, center, drives to the basket against Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan (10) as center Maxime Raynaud (42) watches during the first half of an NBA basketball game
The All-Star Game will go down in February at Intuit Dome in Southern California. Twenty-four players in total will be selected to participate once all voting is officially tabulated.
