Dwight Howard drops 2-word reaction to Karl-Anthony Towns' 960,324 boost in All-Star voting

Ahead of All-Star weekend in February, New York Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns received over a million fan votes for the Eastern Conference frontcourt.

After receiving just 139,642 votes in the first round of fan votes for last year's All-Star Game, Towns' fan votes skyrocketed this season since his trade to the Knicks this summer.

The situation caught the attention of eight-time All-Star and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard. He responded to an Instagram post from NBA on ESPN that showed the difference between the first round of fan votes for Karl-Anthony Towns last year compared to this year's fan votes so far.

In response to the post, Howard replied with a fire emoji, writing:

"That Market."

Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) - Instagram

The post also caught the attention of a number of other notable figures, with rapper G-Eazy also praising Karl-Anthony Towns in the comments section as well.

Currently, Towns trails behind Jayson Tatum in second place and Giannis Antetokounmpo in first.

As the NBAPR account on X, formerly known as Twitter, reminded fans, 50% of votes for All-Star starters come down to fan votes, with NBA players and media making up the other 50%.

Looking at the first return of fan votes for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game after Karl-Anthony Towns' surge in votes

While Karl-Anthony Towns sits in third place for the Eastern Conference frontcourt in the first round of fan voting, there's still plenty more time to go. As we await the next update on fan votes on Jan. 9, let's take a look at the first fan voting returns around the league.

In the Eastern Conference guard category, LaMelo Ball is the leading vote getter, with 947,444 votes, while Donovan Mitchell sits in second place with 718,084 votes.

Over in the Western Conference, Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant lead the Western Conference frontcourt voting. The reigning MVP has received 1,422,121 votes so far from fans, while Durant received 1,268,799 votes in the Western Conference frontcourt category.

Meanwhile, out West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads all Western Conference guards as the only player with more than one million votes. Additionally, Luka Doncic sits in second place in the Western Conference guard category with 870,071 votes.

Throughout the course of Friday, Jan. 3, fans can vote extra for their favorite players, with each vote counting for three. Assuming Karl-Anthony Towns is able to clinch a spot in this year's All-Star Game, it would mark his fourth selection, and his second in a row.