The Kyrie Irving All-Star Campaign is full throttle

So Kyrie Irving has only played in a handful of games. And yes—the first few games back were less than inspiring, with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ point guard struggling to find a consistent shot, going so far as to staying on the floor following a win over the New York Knicks late December to wok on his stroke before the team embarked on a west coast swing that would see him play in just three of the four games and struggle a bit in those which he was featured.

On Christmas Day, a day that featured just as much Matthew Dellavedova as it did Irving, the first round of NBA All-Star votes were released. The typical fare was near the top as LeBron James was the leading vote getter in the East; Kobe Bryant and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant were right there in the West. But one quick look at the guard spot in the East and it appeared that fans hadn’t forgotten about the Cavs point guard while he rehabilitated from a fractured knee cap which he sustained back in the NBA Finals.

If voting ended today, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving would be All-Stars pic.twitter.com/XA8PTr1buQ

— Scott @ WFNY (@WFNYScott) December 25, 2015

Naturally, this release irked fans of the Washington Wizards and, more specifically, John Wall. Wall, taken with the first pick the year prior to Irving, has seemingly been placed in this faux “rivalry” that Wizards fans believe they have with Cleveland and the Cavaliers, and Irving is apparently the perfect “foe” for this to all play out. It could be debated that Wall is more deserving than Irving is of an Eastern Conference All-Star spot, but that’s not the point. Irving was roughly 10,000 votes ahead of Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, a point guard who is more than deserving of a spot due to his play thus far, and more than 35,000 ahead of Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, who would easily slot in as the top shooting guard reserve for the squad.

If you factor in the play of Boston’s Isaiah Thomas and the fact that the Wizards, after Wednesday night’s loss to the Cavaliers, are one of the worst teams in the conference, well Wall could in fact be on the outside looking in. This, of course, would be the case as long as Irving holds on to that tight lead. Wall went on to tell CSNmidatlantic.com that Irving’s placement was “a joke” while he was trailing the Cavalier by nearly 40,000 votes.

But then this happened.

#NBAVote @KyrieIrving

— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 4, 2016

You see, the NBA, the only league that fully embraces social media, allows fans to vote for players through Twitter. The only stipulations are that the players name or handle is included in a tweet with the hashtag #NBAVote. The rub: Retweets count as well. So tweeting one vote for Kyrie Irving is great. Getting 100 or so retweets is even better. But when the most-followed player in the league tweets it out and then it gets re-shared several thousand times? Well, it’s tough to compete with that.

Irving hit the game-winning three-pointer against Phoenix in late December, this before playing a huge role in games early this month. The Cavaliers have since gone all-in on ensuring that Irving’s name is included with any All-Star talks. Following the team’s lopsided victory over the Toronto Raptors, James referred to Irving as “more than an All-Star” during his postgame address of the media.

“He’s special,” James said of Irving. “He’s that special, man. He’s much better than an All-Star. Much better than an All-Star. If he continues to play the way he’s been playing but also continues to progress in his game over the years, he can do something that’s very special around this league.”

Cavaliers head coach David Blatt shared similar sentiments, expanding beyond Irving’s play on the floor as to why he should be playing alongside the game’s most celebrated players.

Then, on Wednesday night, after Irving dropped a season-high 32 points in the wake of a road-team video that poked fun at the Cavs guard, James said the guard’s All-Star candidacy was not only a non-question, but went as far as to mention him as the best point guard in the league.

Lest anyone think these All-Star mentions were some secret pact between Irving, James and their head coach, things carried even further. Also Wednesday night, after J.R. Smith tallied his second consecutive solid game, he discussed Irving’s play and—without being asked—tossed in some thoughts about Irving being the “real All-Star.”

This all comes on the heals of a poetic victory, one where Irving thrived and Washington’s Wall struggled. The Wizards clawed their way back into a game in which they never belonged, and then it was Irving who took over, tallying 19 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter. Wall, meanwhile, scored just 20 points on the night, taking 19 shots to get there.

While NBA fans have yet to see an updated look at All-Star voting as of Wednesday night, it’s safe to say that the efforts on Irving’s behalf should have only served to widen the gap between him and the rest of the conference’s guards. The good news is that his play has also backed it up as the kid has put on a show for much of the last week.

Wall, meanwhile, may want to start lobbying to the coaches rather than complaining to the media. They may be his only shot.