Jaylen Brown is sixth once again in the NBA All-Star fan voting second return, the NBA released Tuesday afternoon.
Brown has received 1,514,259 votes through the first two rounds of the fan voting, trailing Giannis Antetokounmpo (first with 2,092,284 votes), Jalen Brunson (second with 1,916,497 votes), Tyrese Maxey (third with 1,908,978 votes), Cade Cunningham (fourth with 1,752,801 votes), and Donovan Mitchell (fifth with 1,530,237 votes).
Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo remain the leaders in their conferences in the second fan returns in NBA All-Star Voting 2026.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 6, 2026
Fans (50% of the vote) join NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%) in selecting five players in each conference honored as starters. pic.twitter.com/u8tlbj9GA8
It seems like Brown's 29.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per contest average to lead the Celtics (23-12) to the second best record in the Eastern Conference without Jayson Tatum, has relatively gone unnoticed around the league up to this point and it's disappointing if you're a C's fan watching this MVP-type of season first-hand.
Brown, who's coming off a career-tying 50-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers this past Saturday less than 48 hours after learning he was not the recipient of Eastern Conference Player of the Month -- the award that went to the New York Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson instead, despite the Celtics wing having overall better numbers throughout December -- made his statement on both ends of the floor in the Celtics' 146-115 blowout victory to wrap a five-game road trip (4-1).
The self-proclamined "best two-way player in the game," proved just that after texting his coach Joe Mazzulla (reigning Eastern Conference Coach of the Month) to take the lead on guarding Kawhi Leonard, Brown held the Clippers All-Star to a pedestrian 22 points on 17 shot attempts, while he hit 18-of-16 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point range on the other end to secure the win and put the league on notice.
"I seek those challenges. I feel like it brings the most out of me," Brown told reporters on wanting to guard Leonard. "Obviously Kawhi is one of the greats so I wanted to start on him and I just seek those matchups, my mindset, I like when my back is against the wall. I like when people doubt. It fuels me. It would be nice to get some respect you know. Keep it up."
While Brown may be endangered of not be voted in as a starters if the current results stand, his running mate Derrick White and arguably the Celtics second option so far this season is not even in the top-20 in any of the two returns in the Eastern Conference voting.
Since December, White is averaging 21.5 points, 5.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per contest. With the plethora of guards to choose from in the East, it may be difficult for White to notch his first All-Star nod but he's worthy of being in conversations given how the recent improvements across the board and on both ends of the floor.
Fan voting only counts for 50% of the vote, with the media and players (both 25%) that could eventually get Brown to not only his fifth career All-Star game, but his first as a starter.
NBA All-Star voting will conclude on Wednesday, January 14 at 11:59 pm ET. The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will take place on February 15th at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, with NBC/Peacock broadcasting the mid-season classic for the first time since 2002.
Joel Pavón
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