After months of anticipation, the All-Star voting results finally came in on Thursday, courtesy of NBA on TNT.
There were plenty of expected names on the roster like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and (gulp) Kobe Bryant.
There were also plenty of first-timers like Stephen Curry – receiver of the fourth most votes in the league – along with Kevin Love, Paul George and Kyrie Irving.
[RELATED: Love edges Howard by less than 8,000 votes for All-Star starting spot]
To the surprise of many, Love managed to edge Dwight Howard for the final forward spot by a mere 7,928 votes. LaMarcus Aldridge, who plenty felt should have been voted in, was edged by Love by more than 50,000 votes.
Despite a very limited season due to various injuries, Bryant won the starting guard spot in the West by more than 180,000 votes over Chris Paul. Both players are currently injured, so it is likely that neither will actually get to play come All-Star weekend.
The players who were voted in showed their appreciation, while others were less than pleased with the results. See what players around the league were thinking when the starters were announced:
It’s an ugly and sometimes thankless position but somebody has to do it and everybody wants one. Few are born to do it #NBACenter
— Nazr Mohammed (@NazrMohammed) January 24, 2014
Love or aldridge? For me aldrigde should start
— rudy gobert (@rudygobert15) January 24, 2014
Coming back to Twitter to congratulate K. Love on All Star Start. So deserving and has been committed to team and city. Will represent.
— Flip Saunders (@Flip_Saunders) January 24, 2014
Motivation.
— James Harden (@JHarden13) January 24, 2014
Shoutout all my fans and PG supporters! Love y’all!
— Paul George (@Paul_George24) January 24, 2014
Thanks to all of my fans for the support. Couldn’t do it without you guys #blessed pic.twitter.com/PpkruzC2pq
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) January 24, 2014
And a quick video: Again – thank you http://t.co/213WiQgbpD
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) January 24, 2014
NBA all star voting process set up well for Iowa high school girls basketball. Offense only & only guards and forwards.
— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) January 24, 2014
Thank you to all of the fans that voted and congrats to everybody that made it. Humbled. http://t.co/qzR1u1siHW
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) January 24, 2014
Thank you fans for voting me as an All-star starter. Wouldn’t be there without you all!! #blessed
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) January 24, 2014
Wow. Thanks 2 everyone that supported and that voted for me. Amazing feeling and can’t wait to represent my teammates down in NO. #dubnation
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) January 24, 2014
Wow, what an amazing feeling! I’m still in shock. Thanks to all the fans who voted. Can’t wait to… http://t.co/x09HG3Hj0y
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) January 24, 2014
No James or Dwight starting @ All Star game? Smh…
— Omri Casspi (@Casspi18) January 24, 2014
Thank you!! I appreciate all the fans for voting me into the All Star game
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 24, 2014
So @aldridge_12 not a starter in the west… That’s crazy.
— Nolan D. Smith (@NdotSmitty) January 24, 2014
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.