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.