2015 NBA All-Star Game: Steph Curry Tops LeBron for Most Votes as Star Arrives

By now, any self-respecting basketball fan knows full well that Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry is a superstar. But by beating out LeBron James as the top vote-getter for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, Curry has cemented himself as one of the faces of the league—if not its most popular player.

Curry made a late surge in the polls to surpass King James. Two weeks ago, the league announced that Curry trailed James by 13,285 votes, but in the final results released by the NBA on Thursday, Curry had more than 1.5 million votes, 42,000-plus more than LeBron.

The number of All-Star Game votes a player receives, of course, is only tangentially related to his on-court value. Curry's talent was never in doubt—he's been the NBA's first-half MVP, at least according to Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher, and his Golden State Warriors, at 34-6, are an absolute joy to watch. 

But has he become the most beloved player in the country? Clearly, his popularity is soaring, and a nod to his sharpshooting abilities in Drake's hit song "0 to 100" certainly hasn't hurt.     

In some ways, it seems like the perfect storm. Curry is the best player on the league's best team. At 26, he's having the best season of his career, averaging 23.2 points, 8.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals and shooting over 50 percent from the floor.

He's likable, as evidenced by a mock cooking video he made with his wife, Ayesha:  

Curry plays with swagger and intensity but keeps a sense of humor. During the Warriors' blowout victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, he nearly got into a fight with Houston's Trevor Ariza after the Houston player blindsided him in the third quarter.

Afterward, he joked with reporters about what he planned to do to Ariza, via Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News:

"

Throw a hay-maker and knock him out—get kicked out of the league,” Curry said with that wry smile, but he also had a serious look in his eye. He wasn’t going to get into a brawl, but Curry also wasn’t going to let Ariza pull that without some emotional reaction.

“I thought it was a cheap shot,” Curry said. “I don’t know if he meant to do it or not, but that’s how I felt in the moment. And wanted to tell him.

"

Two years ago, Curry was an All-Star Game snub. Last year, he started in his first All-Star Game and finished fourth overall in votes behind Paul George, Kevin Durant and LeBron. Now, he's No. 1, becoming the first Warriors player to make consecutive All-Star Game starts since Chris Mullin in 1991 and 1992.

Curry released a statement to thank his adoring fans: "I want to represent the Warriors the best way I know how, every single game, and will do that proudly in New York thanks to the fans and their votes. Something that's definitely a dream come true, and to be two times in a row, I'm proud of that."

In addition to starting at point guard for the Western Conference on Feb. 15 in New York City, Curry plans to take another shot at the three-point contest, which he's now tried three times unsuccessfully.

"

Steph Curry on competing in the three-point contest over All-Star weekend: "I’m doing that until I win it. I’m salty about that."

— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) January 21, 2015"

That's just the next mountain for Curry to conquer.