Tatum and Brown outlooks as NBA All-Star starters to be announced tonight

The Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both in the mix as potential starters in the 2023 NBA All-Star game. As of the last fan vote, Jayson Tatum had a slim lead over Joel Embiid for the 3rd and final front court spot, while Jaylen Brown was in a distant 3rd place behind Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell for the starting backcourt duo.

Fan vote only accounts for 50% of All-Star voting with the other 50% split between players and media. I'm sure the media will be harsh on Kyrie, but expect the players to help him maintain a starting spot. And I don't for see the players and media pushing Jaylen ahead of Mitchell, so barring an injury Brown will likely be added as a reserve.

Jayson Tatum should snag a starting spot regardless of if Embiid passes him in the fan voting. As the best player on the team with the best record in the NBA, Tatum has gotten a lot of MVP buzz. It would be bizarre to see him not get a starting spot.

Also Kevin Durant is currently injured and despite the fact that he wants to play on All-Star Sunday, there's the potential that his spot could get filled by an injury replacement. Adam Silver is in charge of adding injury replacements for the All-Star teams, but I'm not sure who is in charge of promoting reserves to starter roles. The draft won't be until the day of the All-Star game, so basically I'm saying I have to research all of this.

Could Jaylen Brown start for an injured Kevin Durant? Is it even allowed for a backcourt player to start for a front court player in the All-Star game? I'm coming up with more questions than answers. Feel free to chime in with any answers you know in the comment section.

One thing we can be sure of is when the reserves are picked fans will complain about some omissions. And then some of those omissions will make the team anyway due to players sitting out with injuries. There has been arguments made about expanding the rosters, but I hate that idea. There is not enough playing time to go around to play even more more players in a game. Players and fans can live with perceived snubs.