Ben Simmons' dream of earning a berth in the NBA All-Star game rests with the coaches he has terrorised the past two years with his record-breaking run of triple-doubles and thunderous dunks.
The Melbourne-born Philadelphia 76ers star was snubbed on Thursday as an Eastern Conference starter.
The Boston Celtics' Kyrie Irving and Charlotte Hornets' Kemba Walker were named the East's starting guards for the February 17 All-Star game in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, Toronto Raptors' Kawhi Leonard and 76ers' Joel Embiid make up the East's imposing front court.
The Western Conference starting squad is stacked with firepower with LeBron James partnering with Kevin Durant, Paul George, Stephen Curry and James Harden.
The starters were decided by a combined vote involving NBA fans (worth 50 per cent of the total), media members (25 per cent) and current NBA players (25 per cent).
Simmons was in equal third with Miami Heat veteran Dwyane Wade.
He still has a chance to be named an All-Star with NBA head coaches announcing next Thursday the 14 players who will come off the benches.
A year ago Simmons was controversially ignored by the coaches as a reserve despite a superb rookie season.
Rookies historically are left out of All-Star games and Simmons, in his second year in the NBA, is expected to be named a reserve by the coaches.
The 22-year-old is averaging an extraordinary 16.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game.
The media ranked Simmons the third best East guard, fans had him in fourth while NBA players had the Australian fifth.
Walker was third among East guards in the fan vote, with Irving first and Wade second.
Last year Simmons sat back and watched coaches and the NBA overlook him despite multiple All-Stars pulling out of the game with injuries and new reserves named.
A horror run of recent injuries to All-Star calibre players strengthens Simmons' chances when coaches vote with Indiana's Victor Oladipo (knee) ruled out for the season and the Brooklyn Nets' Spencer Dinwiddie likely to miss four to six weeks with a finger injury.
Dallas Mavericks 19-year-old rookie Luka Doncic finished second among all West front court players in the fan vote, but with weak player and media votes he missed out on being a starter and faces a similar scenario to Simmons last year.
