NBA: LA Lakers star LeBron James, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo lead conference in All-Star voting

New York: Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo led the first fan balloting updates announced on Thursday for next month’s NBA All-Star Game. [caption id=“attachment_5596731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James goes up for a dunk against the Cleveland Cavaliers. AP Photo[/caption] Los Angeles Lakers star playmaker James received the most votes with 1,083,363 to pace the Western Conference frontcourt while Milwaukee Bucks forward Antetokounmpo led the Eastern Conference with 991,561 votes in the first fan ballot returns. Voting continues through 21 January with fan ballots counting 50 percent, current NBA players counting 25 percent and a media panel counting 25 percent to determining the 10 starters for the 68th NBA All-Star Game on February 17 at Charlotte, North Carolina. All-Star Game starters and captains will be revealed on 24 January. Reserves will be revealed one week later. This year’s all-star contest will follow last year’s format with two team captains – the All-Stars who lead their conference – each selecting rosters from pools of starters and reserve players regardless of conference affiliation. James, a 14-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA All-Star Most Valuable Player, was followed in the West front line by Slovenian 19-year-old swingman Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks on 679,839 and Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant with 659,968. Chasing a starting berth were New Orleans star big man Anthony Davis at 605,417 and Oklahoma City’s Paul George on 580,055 with New Zealand center Steven Adams of Oklahoma City next on 261,327. Three-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry of the reigning champion Warriors topped Western Conference guards with 793,111 votes and Minnesota’s Derrick Rose joined him in the backcourt with 698,086 votes. Houston’s James Harden, the NBA’s top scorer with 33.3 points a game, was chasing a starting spot in third on 541,606 with Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook next on 459,792. Antetokounmpo was followed in East frontcourt starting spot positions by Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard on 774,172 and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, a 7-footer from Cameroon, on 648,002. Embiid’s 76ers teammate Jimmy Butler was a distant fourth on 222,206. Boston’s Kyrie Irving topped the East guards with 910,329 votes and Miami’s Dwyane Wade was second on 409,156. Chasing backcourt starting spots were Charlotte’s Kemba Walker of 319,519 and Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, the 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year from Australia, on 259,993. James leads Curry by more than 290,000 votes for the West captain’s spot while Antetokounmpo has a lead of just over 81,000 votes on Irving for the East captain’s spot.