The 2022-23 NBA season is nearing the halfway mark, which means that the 2023 NBA All-Star game is right around the corner. Earning an All-Star selection is a prestigious accomplishment for many of the top players in the league, and the All-Star game is a great way to see the best players in the game going up against each other on one of the biggest stages in the league.

The All-Star voting allows fans, players, and media personnel to determine who gets selected to the game. Fans account for 50 percent of the vote, while NBA players and media folks account for 25 percent each. The top two vote getters will be captains for their respective teams, and end up partaking in a draft of the remaining 22 All-Stars to fill out their squads.

Voting for the All-Star game is a fun task, and with the voting having been taking place for a while now, the first results of the vote have officially been made public. While it appears as if there are quite a few star players who we expected to make the cut in line to earn All-Star berths, let's take a look at the three biggest surprises from the initial vote for the 2023 NBA All-Star game.

3. Kevon Looney finishing in tenth place in the Western Conference frontcourt

Golden State Warriors fans always make sure to turn out when it comes to All-Star voting; remember last season when everyone was losing their minds because Andrew Wiggins was an All-Star? Wiggins has received a pretty large amount of votes again this season, but his vote total isn't nearly as surprising as that of Kevon Looney's who is somehow the tenth highest vote getter in the Western Conference frontcourt.

Looney has remained the Warriors starting center with James Wiseman continuing to struggle, and while he certainly does his job as a solid interior defender, his stats on the season aren't exactly anything special (6.7 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2.9 APG, 62.3 FG%). Looney does what is required of him, but his 23.3 minutes per game show he isn't even playing half of the game on a nightly basis for Golden State.

Looney is a solid player, and while he's starting for the Warriors, he really isn't anything more than a big man who should be coming off the bench for them. Yet Looney's 245,985 votes have him at tenth place on the All-Star vote, and while he doesn't really have any shot of finding his way onto an All-Star roster, it will be interesting to see whether he remains on the list when the next vote is revealed.

2. Derrick Rose finishing in ninth place in the Eastern Conference backcourt

Derrick Rose has been caught up in all the chaos surrounding the New York Knicks this season, and has gone from being a valuable member of their rotation to an afterthought for them who sits on the bench collecting dust most of the time. Yet Rose is popular with many fans for his torrid start to his career with the Chicago Bulls, and he finds his way onto the All-Star vote because of that legacy.

Let's face it; Rose's numbers this season aren't close to making him an All-Star (5.8 PPG, 1.8 APG, 1.5 RPG, 39.4 FG%). Rose is barely playing well enough to get minutes on his own team; how on earth can it be justified for him to find his way onto an All-Star team? Rose is playing in just 12.9 minutes per game, which is far too few, but Rose's fans have shown up in a big way when it comes to the NBA All-Star voting here.

Rose's 220,229 votes put him ahead of some far more deserving candidates (Darius Garland is immediately behind him in tenth place) and while he doesn't have any shot of making the roster, it's interesting to see him end up on the list. Whether Rose hangs around, or even moves up somehow, will be worth keeping an eye for in the second vote.

1. Austin Reaves finishing in ninth place in the Western Conference backcourt

Austin Reaves is another player who has made a wildly surprising appearance on the All-Star vote here. Reaves has played in 36 games for the Lakers, but he's only started 12 of those games, and hasn't been outrageously good when he's played. But Reaves still did enough to somehow be the ninth-highest voted guard in the West.

Reaves has taken a step forward for the Lakers this season, but his numbers still don't make him an All-Star caliber player (10.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 48.8 FG%). Reaves has been a bright spot for Los Angeles in what has been a lost season so far, but that doesn't exactly make him worthy of All-Star consideration.

Whereas Rose has the name recognition from earlier in his career, Reaves simply doesn't have that. Furthermore, it's not as if he's even one of the Lakers best players, as he's just a rotation piece for them at this point. But Lakers nation is looking for something to cheer for this season, and it appears they have rallied behind Reaves to give him a surprising inclusion on the NBA All-Star voting list here.