The starters for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game won't be named until Thursday, Jan. 19 during TNT's "NBA Countdown" broadcast. While basketball fans are supposed to patiently wait until then to find out who cracked the lineups, TNT analyst Charles Barkley is already aware of the 10 names heading to New Orleans.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia 76ers fans, Barkley may have let it slip during a Wednesday radio appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic that a certain Rookie of the Year favorite and "Process" believer didn't make the cut.
"I can't tell you who's on the list, because now we've got to work on our reserves," Barkley told host Anthony Gargano, according to philly.com's Rob Tornoe. "I think there's an outside chance that I'm going to put (Embiid) on my All-Star reserves, just because I think he's reinvigorated the Sixers and the city of Philadelphia.
"I haven't made a final decision yet. But there's an outside chance I'm going to pick him as a reserve."
Embiid turned himself into an internet darling in his pursuit of fan votes, using Twitter and Instagram to come up with creative ways to to gain support, including imitating WWE superstar Triple H and subtweeting trolls in votes for himself.
He trailed Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love in the second fan returns by roughly 26,000 votes, with the top three frontcourt vote-getters making the lineup. Fans only have 50 percent of the total vote this season, though, with select members of the media and the Association's players splitting the other half.
