The first round of NBA All-Star fan voting results was made public on Thursday. Unsurprisingly, the Oklahoma City Thunder were well represented.
As things currently stand, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads all guards in total votes with 1,053,683 and is on course to earn his third-straight trip to the illustrious exhibition. Meanwhile, Jalen Williams ranked in with the seventh-most votes among Western Conference frontcourt talents with 188,722 as he looks to claim the first All-Star nod of his career.
Without a doubt, these turnouts are exciting to see from a Thunder fan's perspective, as it suggests that they could see two representatives of the club be sent to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2018-19 (Russell Westbrook & Paul George) and for just the sixth-time since migrating to the Sooner State.
However, while this first round of results is certainly something to be joyous about, when seeing the names that are currently in the running for a February trip to San Francisco it's hard not to think of the "what could have been" scenario had rising stud Chet Holmgren not gone down with injury back in early November.
All-Star returns a grim reminder of Thunder big Chet Holmgren's injury
Prior to his unfortunate right iliac wing fracture in his hip during a November 10 bout against the Warriors, Holmgren was amid a career-best campaign with the Thunder.
Following his runner-up Rookie of the Year finish to 2023-24, the big man found himself dropping all-around sensational, pre-injury averages of 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.9 blocks (third-best in the league at the time) per game while shooting a highly efficient 51.9 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from distance.
Compared to many frontcourt players who have found their way into the All-Star voting circuit, there's a strong case to be made these counting stats alone would have given him a leg-up in the voting returns.
Though top-billed bigs like Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, and, admittedly, Victor Wembanyama would have likely not seen their standing impacted all the much or even at all had Chet been active these past few months, others such as Domantas Sabonis (148,810), Jaren Jackson Jr. (103,142), and even Alperen Sengun (314,223) could have easily been edged out due to stats and/ or team success.
Of course, at the end of the day, this is merely hypothetical speak.
The reality is Chet Holmgren has now endured two serious injuries in his three-year professional career and, as a result, has delayed any chance of him securing a high-end honor such as the label of "All-Star" until at least the 2025-26 season.
Fortunately, the big man has been quite adamant that he'll be able to get back to full-strength this season and, with his expected reevaluation timeline of 8-10 weeks inching closer, excitement for his return should be starting to percolate.
Still, while he may be able to get back to playing like an All-Star for the Thunder, this first round of returns serves as a grim reminder of how he was clearly on track to officially clinching such a feat before his devastating injury.