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The Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, who made his NBA All-Star Game debut last season, is the leading vote-getter in the first fan returns of the 2018 NBA All-Star voting, the NBA confirmed on Thursday.
Antetokounmpo received 863,416 votes to edge the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (856,080) for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and overall. In the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant leads with 767,402 votes and teammate Stephen Curry is next with 735,115.
Joining Antetokounmpo and James, a 13-time All-Star, at the top of the Eastern Conference frontcourt are Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (433,161) and Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks (359,459). Four-time All-Star Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics leads among East guards with 802,834 votes, followed by three-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors (259,368) and Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers (251,886).
Durant is joined at the top of the West frontcourt by two members of the New Orleans Pelicans, 2017 NBA All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis (393,000) and three-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins (356,340), followed by the Warriors' Draymond Green (325,612). In voting for the West guards, Curry is followed by the Houston Rockets' James Harden (602,040) and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder (438,469).
Under a new All-Star Game format that replaces the traditional matchup between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, the team rosters will be chosen by two captains from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves. The captains will be the All-Star starters from each conference who receive the most fan votes in respective conferences.
The All-Star Game starters including the two captains will be revealed on Jan. 18 and the reserves will be announced on Jan. 23. The team rosters will be revealed on Jan. 25. The 2018 NBA All-Star Game will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 18.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
