NBA All-Star Voting 2012: Kevin Love and Players Sure to Be Snubbed as Starters

The 2012 All-Star voting is almost at a close and the fan-selected starters will be locked into place on January 31. The starting five for each conference will be announced during an hour-long live pregame show on TNT on February 2.

It’s clear that there are going to be some major snubs this year, and players from less popular teams are going to get screwed over by big market superstars.

Let’s take a look at some top candidates to be overlooked by the fans.

*All balloting statistics taken from NBA.com

Kevin Love

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ best player was behind Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol in forward voting for the Western Conference.

He deserves to be a starter along side of KD35 and should be rewarded for the phenomenal season he is having.

Love is averaging 25.3 points and 13.8 rebounds per game while shooting effective percentages from both inside and behind the arc.

Josh Smith

The Atlanta Hawks lost their starting center, but that hasn’t come close to derailing their season thanks to the play of their versatile forward.

Smith is putting up 15.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, two blocks and 1.3 steals per game, which are just incredible numbers, and it's helping to keep his team relevant.

He’s going to get passed over by someone like Carmelo Anthony, who is a fan favorite but probably hurting his team with bad shots and stopping ball movement.

Paul Millsap

The Utah Jazz baller is not even in the top 10 of voting this year for forwards out in the West.

It’s absolutely crazy that Metta World Peace is ahead of him in voting.

The 26-year-old is averaging 17 points and 9.1 rebounds while being extremely efficient with his shot selection.

Utah is 11-7 on the year and surprisingly a contender to make the postseason. It’s a shame that their best player isn’t getting any credit for it.

Millsap is a shoe-in for a reserve spot, but he deserves to start.