Stephen Curry said he was “anxious” a few hours before the 2014 NBA All-Star Game starters were announced, but he can heave a big sigh of relief now. After getting left off the team a year ago, Curry learned he’d be the Warriors’ first All-Star starter since Latrell Sprewell in 1995.
“Surreal feeling,” said Curry on a conference call after the starters were made official.
“I saw Kobe come on the screen. Obviously I knew the next person would be me or (I’d be) left off that list. When I saw my name it was a real emotional kind of experience. Glad my wife and daughter were here to watch it with me. Then the phone calls started coming in.”
Curry said he got about 50 calls, and he talked specifically about what transpired during the call with his father, Dell.
“He’s not an emotional guy, but when I called him I could hear his voice was a little shaky,” Curry said.
Curry was in line to start based on the third returns that were released on Jan. 9. Back then he was over 167,000 votes behind Kobe Bryant and only 26,000 ahead of Chris Paul. After a surge in the voting that has to make the Golden State Warriors marketing department feel pretty good, Curry actually finished ahead of Bryant in the voting. Curry ended up with 1,047,281 votes, while Bryant (who’s recovering from a knee injury) had 988,884. Curry’s total was second in the West behind Kevin Durant (1,396,294).
“As a starter, that’s 100% the fans’ doing,” said Curry. “Over a million votes, that’s crazy.”
Another surprise came from Kevin Love edging out Dwight Howard by fewer than 8,000 votes. Blake Griffin was the third frontcourt starter, but three Warriors made it into the top 15 in Western Conference frontcourt voting (sorry, Harrison Barnes).
Here are the final returns, courtesy of NBA.com.
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
- LeBron James (Mia) 1,416,419
- Paul George (Ind) 1,211,318
- Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 935,702
- Roy Hibbert (Ind) 524,809
- Chris Bosh (Mia) 406,867
- Kevin Garnett (Bkn) 209,398
- Joakim Noah (Chi) 181,145
- Andre Drummond (Det) 163,798
- Tyson Chandler (NYK) 137,512
- Luol Deng (Cle) 121,754
- Jeff Green (Bos) 121,040
- Carlos Boozer (Chi) 103,502
- David West (Ind) 95,363
- Paul Pierce (Bkn) 95,034
- Josh Smith (Det) 75,433
Backcourt
- Dwyane Wade (Mia) 929,542
- Kyrie Irving (Cle) 860,221
- John Wall (Was) 393,129
- Derrick Rose (Chi) 359,546
- Ray Allen (Mia) 250,909
- Rajon Rondo (Bos) 174,654
- Lance Stephenson (Ind) 148,382
- DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 131,228
- George Hill (Ind) 129,533
- Deron Williams (Bkn) 126,423
Western Conference
Frontcourt
- Kevin Durant (OKC) 1,396,294
- Blake Griffin (LAC) 688,466
- Kevin Love (Min) 661,246
- Dwight Howard (Hou) 653,318
- LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 609,172
- Tim Duncan (SA) 492,657
- Anthony Davis (NO) 286,247
- Andre Iguodala (GS) 266,611
- DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 255,005
- Pau Gasol (LAL) 247,323
- David Lee (GS) 232,210
- Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 201,873
- Chandler Parsons (Hou) 174,512
- Omer Asik (Hou) 130,344
- Andrew Bogut (GS) 127,947
Backcourt
- Stephen Curry (GS) 1,047,281
- Kobe Bryant (LAL) 988,884
- Chris Paul (LAC) 804,309
- Jeremy Lin (Hou) 628,818
- James Harden (Hou) 470,381
- Russell Westbrook (OKC) 317,338
- Damian Lillard (Por) 280,966
- Tony Parker (SA) 258,751
- Klay Thompson (GS) 162,984
- Ricky Rubio (Min) 124,230
Besides Jeremy Lin, a look at the top eight backcourt players in the West makes Curry’s first place finish all the more amazing. The only downside for Curry comes from the uniforms the All-Stars will be forced to wear. Not only are they hideous, but Curry has made it known that he’s not a fan of sleeves.
