The fans let down Jalen Brunson.
Brunson was outvoted by Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard for two starting spots in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, largely because the fans — who account for 50 percent of the final tally — had the Knicks point guard fifth among Eastern Conference backcourt players.
The TNT broadcast, which announced the results Thursday, said Brunson and Lillard were tied for second but Lillard won the tiebreaker of the higher fan vote.
It had TNT analyst Charles Barkley pining for Brunson.
“I’m never going to throw shade at Damian Lillard,” Barkley said. “But I would have loved to see Jalen Brunson be a starter. I can’t believe what a great player he’s turned into. When he went to the Knicks last year I said, ‘That’s a great signing.’ It turned into one of the best signings I’ve ever seen as a free agent.”
Brunson certainly had the respect of the media, which accounted for 25 percent of the vote and had him second among Eastern Conference guards.
He finished third in the player vote, which represented the other 25 percent.
Brunson could — and likely will — make his first All-Star Game as a reserve, which is determined by the coaches and announced later.
The Knicks haven’t had an All-Star starter since Carmelo Anthony in 2016 and that streak will continue barring an injury to either Haliburton or Lillard.
Julius Randle also has a case for being an All-Star reserve but had no chance at a starting frontcourt spot, which went to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum.
Brunson, who entered Thursday averaging 26.6 points and 6.5 assists, was the big snub.
He garnered 1,452,519 fan votes, behind No. 1 Haliburton, No. 2 Trae Young, No. 3 Lillard, No. 4 Donovan Mitchell and No. 5 Tyrese Maxey.
It’s a weird result for a player in a major market but the fan voting is global and Brunson, for some reason, hasn’t carried mass international appeal.
“I’ll be honest with you, even the Knicks didn’t know he’d be this good,” Barkley said on the air right after the announcement. “They thought he’d be an upgrade. He’s made the New York Knicks relevant for the first time since Patrick Ewing.”
Lillard, a future Hall of Famer who is struggling by his standards this season, was fifth in the media vote.
As the second-best player on the Bucks (behind Antetokounmpo), Lillard is averaging his fewest points (25.3) since 2019-20.
Knicks fans, particularly on social media, have gone on crusades lately defending Brunson against narratives in the national media that he’s not a “1A star” or too short to lead a team to a championship.
But not enough of those fans cast their vote for Brunson.
“The hard thing about the All-Star Game is there’s a lot of guys who are having great years and are very deserving,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s what makes it fun for everyone to debate it.”
The Western Conference starters are LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.
