Why the Utah Jazz were left off first All-Star Game voting returns

The Utah Jazz found themselves left off the first round of All-Star Game voting released by the NBA on Thursday. Here’s why and what it means.

The NBA officially released the first round of voting results for the 2019 NBA All-Star Game on Thursday, and the Utah Jazz found that none its players ended up on the list of top 10 frontcourt players and top 10 guards in the Western Conference.

The starters for the 68th All-Star Game — which will be played on Feb. 17 in Charlotte — are largely determined by fan voting. The fan vote counts for 50 percent of the overall votes, while 25 percent is voting from the NBA players and the other 25 percent is voting from the media.

Here is the full list of players who received votes in both the West and the East:

The only two players that could have a shot at representing the Jazz in the All-Star Game this season are Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, but both appear to be long shots to grab a spot in the annual game in February.

What does that mean for Utah, and why didn’t Mitchell or Gobert appear on the list of first round voting results? Let’s take a closer look.

The first reason why Mitchell and Gobert maybe aren’t receiving a large amount of All-Star votes so far this season is because they play in a smaller market and aren’t on a team that is in the spotlight or particularly successful so far this season. Since 50 percent of the voting is fan-based, that’s somewhat of a big deal, like it or not.

Utah traditionally hasn’t been a team that a ton of fans shift their attention to as a squad they want to watch throughout the season, with the exception of a nationally televised game like Christmas Day.

The Jazz have also struggled to some extent so far this season, riding an up-and-down wave en route to a near-.500 record as the midway point in the year approaches.

Another example of the All-Star Game voting reflecting that subpar start is with Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who is also not on that list of top 10 players who could be in the All-Star Game.

The second reason Utah doesn’t currently have a representative on the first round of All-Star Game voting could be because of the level of talent that is present in the Western Conference this season.

I mean, look at that list above. Who would you put Mitchell or Gobert ahead of right now on that list? And keep in mind their popularity.

You could definitely make an argument that Mitchell should be ahead of Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball, or that Gobert should be ahead of Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma or Golden State Warriors big man DeMarcus Cousins in the frontcourt voting. But right now, they just aren’t shining enough to prompt fans outside Salt Lake City to go and vote for them.

Entering Thursday’s voting release, Mitchell is averaging 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals in 33.1 minutes per game. Gobert, who is having a career year so far, is averaging 15.1 points (career-high), 12.4 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.9 assists in 31.1 minutes per game.

Long story short, Mitchell and Gobert just aren’t doing enough or outshining other players in the Western Conference to find themselves among the top 10 players to receive votes for the All-Star Game at their positions.

That doesn’t mean that can’t change or that Mitchell and Gobert aren’t close to breaking into the top 10, but until they start to shine and play a little more consistently the way All-Stars do, Utah will continue to find itself without a representative in the 68th annual game on Feb. 17 in Charlotte.