The NBA All-Star Game is around the corner and there will be Canadian representation at the game. That’s likely to cause interest at Ontario sportsbooks even in a season when the Toronto Raptors aren’t doing so well.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been selected as a starter for the game, which is set for Feb. 18 in Indianapolis. It will be the second All-Star Game appearance for the 25-year-old guard, a Toronto native.
Since the NBA has announced starters for the 2024 NBA All-Star game, we wondered how Canadian-born players fared in voting this year. Results are based on a combined vote of players, fans and media. Using the NBA Communications release of voting results, OntarioBets.com – where reviews of Ontario sports betting apps can be found – compiled this list of the top 10 Canadians in this year’s NBA All-Star voting.
Top Canadians In 2024 NBA All-Star Fan Voting
Canadian NBA All-Star: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Gilgeous-Alexander aims to average 30 points a game for the second straight season; he scored 31.4 a game in 2022-23 and is just about on that pace, at 31.1 ppg, going into Monday’s games. He has led the Thunder to a strong first half; at 32-14, they were tied for first in the Western Conference with the Minnesota Timberwolves going into Monday. Various NBA betting sites give Oklahoma City odds between +15000 and +1900 to win the NBA championship.
Gilgeous-Alexander led all Western Conference guards in votes from fellow players with 125 and topped media polling with 96 votes, according to official NBA All-Star voting results from NBA Communications. He was third in fan balloting at the position with 3.13 million votes, trailing Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks (4.14 million votes) and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (3.23 million). According to the league, scoring for the NBA All-Star teams was based on three factors: Fan vote (which weighed 50 percent), players’ vote (25 percent) and media polling (25 percent).
How Other Canadians Fared
Jamal Murray, whose Denver Nuggets had +447 odds at Pinnacle Ontario Sportsbook to repeat as NBA champions as of Monday afternoon, was second among Canadians in All-Star Game voting. The guard had 241,708 votes from fans, 26 from fellow players and none from the media. The native of Kitchener, Ontario, is averaging 20.9 points and 6.5 assists per game.
Third among all Canadians in All-Star voting was Andrew Wiggins of Golden State. The forward (with 228,260 fan votes and one player vote) isn’t scoring at the pace he usually does; his 12.3 ppg would be a career low. The Warriors, currently out of a playoff spot at 19-24, have +6000 NBA championship odds with NorthStar Bets Ontario Sportsbook.
One bright spot for the Toronto Raptors (16-30) has been the play of RJ Barrett, the hometown product who’s averaging a career-high 21 points and 7.1 rebounds a game. He’s fourth among Canadians in All-Star voting with 156,886 in fan balloting and three nods from his peers on the court. Up next is Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City teammate, forward Luguentz Dort (134,083 fan votes and eight from players). The Montreal-born Dort is averaging 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds a game for the Thunder.
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