Kyrie Irving leads the Eastern Conference guards in NBA All-Star voting, despite anti-Semitism row

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is leading the fan vote among the Eastern Conference guards for the NBA All-Star, despite his controversial anti-Semitism scandal. 

The NBA released the first return of fans votes for this season’s All-Star on Thursday with Irving, 30, surprisingly emerging in the top spot for guards in his conference, ahead of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. 

The fact that Irving is still a fan favorite comes as somewhat of a shock this season after he endured backlash and criticism for posting a link to a controversial film. 

Kyrie Irving is leading the fan vote for the Eastern Conference guards in the NBA All-Star

The Brooklyn Nets star finished ahead of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden

In October, he shared a link to the Amazon page for the 2018 film ‘Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America’ which contained anti-Semitic tropes.

Irving was suspended by the Nets for a minimum of five games, after he initially refused to apologize and said he had no anti-Semitic beliefs when meeting with reporters at the Nets’ practice facility.

The anti-Semitism row even led to sportswear giant Nike ending its partnership with the embattled star. 

The Brooklyn Nets star caught the attention for publicizing the 2018 film which is based on a book of the same name that has been described as ‘venomously anti-Semitic’

The anti-Semitism row led to sportswear giant Nike ending its partnership with Irving

Irving did eventually offer a belated apology following his suspension and apologized again to the Jewish community. 

After missing eight games through suspension, his second apology paved the way for his return to the court and the Nets have won 18 out of their last 22 games and are currently tied for second in the Eastern Conference. 

Irving is the second-highest scorer on the team this season behind Kevin Durant, which has surely boosted his chances to add another NBA All-Star Game to his accomplishments. 

Irving is the second-highest scorer on the Brooklyn Nets this season behind Kevin Durant

Durant and LeBron James topped their respective conferences in the frontcourt with the Lakers star raking in the most votes overall with 3,168,694. 

Nikola Jokic finished behind LeBron in the Western conference and Giannis Antetokounmpo came second behind Durant in the Eastern. 

Irving finished with 2,071,715 votes, beating out Cleveland’s Mitchell in second with 1,637,374, who recorded a historic 71-point performance Monday, while Harden finished third with 1,161,593. 

Meanwhile, reigning champions Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry topped the guards in the Western conference with 2,715,520 votes. 

Lasters superstar LeBron James raked in the most votes overall from fans with 3,168,694