(New York) Milwaukee Bucks star guard Giannis Antetokounmpo and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James lead early fan voting results for next month’s NBA All-Star Game , unveiled Thursday.
Antetokounmpo comes in first with 2,171,812 votes, leading the Eastern Conference, while James is credited with 2,008,645 votes, leading the Western Conference.
The starters for the 73rd edition of the All-Star Game will be determined by a formula combining votes from the public (50%), players (25%) and specialist journalists (25%).
The two stars, already captains of the two opposing teams at the All-Star Game last February, were selected for the winger and interior positions. Antetokounmpo leads in the East reigning MVP Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) with 1,844,025 votes and Boston guard Jayson Tatum of Boston (1,765,919).
To the West, behind James, we find Phoenix star Kevin Durant (1,807,394) and Denver Serbian center Nikola Jokic, reigning NBA champion (1,636,041).
As for the point guard positions, young Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton leads in the East with 1,380,795 votes ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s teammate Damian Lillard (955,751), while in the West , it is the Slovenian genius Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks who has the most votes (1,452,733) ahead of the leader Stephen Curry of Golden (1,394,980).
The 2024 All-Star Game will take place on February 18 in Indianapolis in its traditional East/West configuration, the NBA having abandoned the popular format for the last six seasons with two players with the most votes choosing their team from a drawing to the fate of the players named as starters.
