On Thursday, the NBA released its first round of All-Star voting for the game’s starting lineup, and there was one surprise name among the Eastern Conference’s front court: Boston Celtics big man Tacko Fall, who is currently sixth after playing a total of 11 minutes in three games.

Of course, the two-way rookie is incredibly popular in Boston -- every game he’s on the bench features chants of “We want Tacko!” that often begin in the first half.

Fall was not the highest vote-getter among Celtics front-court players: That distinction belonged to Jayson Tatum, at 364,137. Fall trails Tatum by a significant margin at 110,269. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was by far the highest vote-getter league-wide, with 1,073,358 votes to Joel Embiid’s 606,534 in second place.

At Celtics shoot around on Friday, Tatum was asked if he was surprised to see Fall in sixth.

“No," Tatum told reporters. "Tacko got a standing ovation at Madison Square Garden. Tacko the GOAT.”

Brad Stevens was asked a similar question.

“I know my son votes seven times a day,” Stevens said. “I don’t love the idea, when you’re talking about the All-Star game or any awards, not being based solely on what’s happening on the court.”

Fall is extremely unlikely earn a slot in the All-Star game -- he won’t be voted in by coaches for the reserves, so he needs to win a starting slot. Embiid’s 500,000-vote lead will be very difficult to overcome.

But the voting results once again hammer home how popular Fall is both among Celtics fans and league-wide. Either fans are big fans of per-36 minute stats (Fall is averaging 42.5 points, 22.9 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in the pace-adjusted statistic), or they love watching the towering 7-foot-5 center. The latter seems much more likely.

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