-
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James continue to lead All-Star voting ahead of next month’s All-Star Game, as the two stars were atop the second round of voting that was released Thursday by the NBA.
Like last week, Antetokounmpo and James also were way ahead of the rest of the field. Antetokounmpo was the leading vote-getter overall, with over 3.4 million people voting for the Bucks star, while James was the only other player to top more than 3 million votes.
Joining Antetokounmpo atop the East frontcourt voting for a second straight week were 76ers center Joel Embiid (2.975 million votes) in second and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (2.939 million) in third. Jimmy Butler and Jaylen Brown remain a distant fourth and fifth, respectively.
It was a similar story out West, with James, followed by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (2.777 million) and Suns forward Kevin Durant (2.773 million), nearly double the vote totals of Anthony Davis and newly extended Kawhi Leonard, who remained fourth and fifth.
In the backcourts, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered a hamstring injury this week, is the only East guard with over 2 million votes. The one change among the starters in either conference is that Hawks guard Trae Young edged ahead of Bucks guard Damian Lillard for the second starting spot. Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey were once again fourth and fifth.
Out West, Luka Doncic and Stephen Curry were both over 2 million votes, and were followed by Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers guard James Harden and Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving.
The next round of All-Star voting will be released next Thursday, with voting to conclude Jan. 20. The starters will be revealed on Jan. 25.
Earlier this season, the NBA announced that it would be going back to the old format of East versus West for the All-Star Game, scrapping the captains-picking-teams format the league has gone with the past few years. Antetokounmpo and James were the top vote-getters — and respective captains — for last season’s game in Utah.
Source: www.espn.com