Tacko Fall The All-Star? Celtics Giant Is Crushing NBA All-Star Voting
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics should have a handful of All-Stars this season. No one would be too surprised if Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown -- or at least two of those names -- made their way to Chicago .
All three are in striking distance with the NBA releasing their first voting tally on Thursday, but there was one big surprise also in the mix. A gigantic, 7-foot-6 surprise: Tacko Fall.
The Celtics big man has only played a total of 11 NBA minutes in his three games, and he has just 13 points. But Fall was in the middle of the pack for the Eastern Conference frontcourt, with the sixth-most votes at 110,269.
Fall currently sits behind Giannis Antetokounmpo (1,073,358 votes), Joel Embiid (606,534), Pascal Siakam (544,302), Jimmy Butler (431,483) and Tatum (364,137), which is some great company.
Chances are Fall won't be making the All-Star team. Fan voting is only 50 percent of the process, with players and the media accounting for the rest of the voting to avoid such silly situations.
But the NBA All-Star game is, basically, a joke at this point. It's a way for all the stars to gather in one spot and plan their futures together (at least for some of them), and then go out and throw some razzmatazz around while playing no defense. So why not get a little goofy and throw one of the NBA's gentle giants in the mix? He should definitely be in the Rising Stars Challenge, and if we're lucky, he'll make an appearance during the dunk contest, with someone attempting to jump over the Boston behemoth.
And imagine the chants in Chicago should Fall somehow makes the roster. If Brad Stevens gets the coaching nod again, there may be a repeat of Dec. 20 when Boston fans serenaded him with their Tacko request throughout a blowout win over the Detroit Pistons.
Elsewhere in the voting, Walker is in a virtual tie with Kyrie Irving in the Eastern Conference guard voting (both trail Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, who leads all East guards). If the voting continues to trend this way, Walker will get the start over Irving because Irving has only played in 11 games and is still sidelined with a shoulder issue.
Unfortunately for Brown, he is also considered a guard in this voting process, and he currently sits seventh in the Eastern Conference behind Derrick Rose, Zach LaVine and Ben Simmons. It's going to take a bit push from Boston fans to get him over that grouping.
Fans have until Jan. 20 to submit their votes online, with the All-Star selections announced a few days later on Jan. 23. So if you want to stuff the ballot box for Brown -- or Fall -- get to it.
