There has been a shake-up atop the leaderboard of the 2023 PBA All-Star Game fan voting, as Barangay Ginebra's Japeth Aguilar leapfrogged teammate Scottie Thompson and erstwhile frontrunner June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beermen to become the new leader after the second week of voting.
Aguilar, who was in third place after the first week of voting, found himself on top after garnering a total of 190,273 votes. Thompson maintained his hold of second with 186,187 votes, while Fajardo slid to third with 183,903. Jamie Malonzo of Barangay Ginebra and Calvin Abueva of Magnolia Hotshots maintained their positions at fourth and fifth, respectively, with 174,112 and 172,383 votes.
The biggest surprise, though, was Rain or Shine Elasto Painters rookie Gian Mamuyac, who came out of nowhere to grab 6th spot with 170,359. Mamuyac, who was not even in the top 30 after the first week of voting, was even ahead of his more celebrated teammate -- two-time MVP James Yap -- who inched up a notch to seventh with 170,313.
Rounding out the top 10 were Ginebra's Christian Standhardinger (169,718) and LA Tenorio (166,317), sandwiching SMB's CJ Perez (169,036).
Others who are in the magic 24 are, in order from 11th to 24th: Ginebra's Stanley Pringle, Magnolia's Paul Lee, TNT Tropang Giga's Jayson Castro, SMB's Terrence Romeo, NorthPort Batang Pier's Robert Bolick, Magnolia's Mark Barroca, Ginebra's Jeremiah Gray, SMB's Marcio Lassiter, TNT's RR Pogoy, NorthPort Arvin Tolentino, Meralco Bolts' Chris Newsome, TNT's Mikey Williams, NLEX Road Warriors' Kevin Alas and Rain or Shine's Gabe Norwood.
Blackwater Bossing, Terrafirma Dyip, Phoenix Super LPG and Converge FiberXers are the teams without a representative in the top 24.
In the voting for the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors game, which will feature the top 20 vote-getters, Mamuyac grabbed the lead from Malonzo, who slid to no. 2 followed by Gray, Tolentino and TNT's Calvin Oftana.
The 15 others who made it to the top 20 are Rain or Shine's Shaun Ildefonso, Converge's Justin Arana, Meralco's Aaron Black, Phoenix's Tyler Tio, Williams, Magnolia's Jerrick Ahanmisi, NLEX's Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Converge's Jerrick Balanza and RK Ilagan, SMB's Allyn Bulanadi, Terrafirma's Isaac Go, twins Mike and Matt Nieto of Rain or Shine and NLEX, NorthPort's Joshua Munzon and Rain or Shine's Anton Asistio.
If a player qualifies for both the main All-Star Game and the RSJ All-Star Game, he will play in the former and the next-highest RSJ vote-getter will take his spot.
In the voting for the two coaches, Ginebra's Tim Cone (224,430) saw his lead over Yeng Guiao (208,429) of Rain or Shine narrow to around 16,000 votes from over 28,000 last week. Both are still well ahead of Converge's Aldin Ayo (142,155), while Magnolia's Chito Victolero moved past Meralco's Norman Black for fourth.
Fans can vote for up to 24 players in the All-Star Game and 20 in the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors Game. Voting for the All-Star activities, which will be held from Mar. 9-12 in Passi City, Iloilo, will continue up to Feb. 15 both online on the PBA's official website and at game venues.