Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is the early leader in fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game, and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers seems well on his way toward extending his record and getting picked for a 21st time.
The first update on All-Star voting for this season’s revised game was released Thursday, with Antetokounmpo the overall leader with about 1.7 million votes. Denver’s Nikola Jokic is second overall with about 1.4 million votes, which is tops among all Western Conference players.
The 10 players on pace to be selected as starters, at least based on the fan balloting: Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell from the Eastern Conference, and Jokic, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and James from the West.
But there won’t be 10 starters this year for the All-Star Game, set to take place Feb. 16 in San Francisco. There will be more.
It’s the first year of a new All-Star format, one where there will be three games. The 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams of eight players apiece by TNT personalities and former NBA greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
Those three teams will be entered into a four-team tournament, with the remaining squad being the team of NBA rookies and second-year players that wins the Rising Stars event on All-Star Friday. There are two semifinal games, followed by the winners meeting in a championship game — with the first team to reach 40 points the winner of all three games.
It will be wildly different than last year, when the All-Star Game final score was 211-186 — the highest-scoring one in history.
Voting continues through Jan. 20.
Fan voting makes up 50% of the All-Star starter selection formula, with media voting accounting for another 25% and voting by current NBA players counting for the remaining 25%.
The 10 players designated as starters — even though there technically will be at least 15 starters in the All-Star “games” — will be announced on Jan. 23, and the reserves that will be selected by NBA head coaches will be announced on Jan. 30.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
The race for the NBA All-Star Game is heating up, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and LeBron James leading the way in early voting.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning two-time MVP, has been dominant once again this season for the Milwaukee Bucks. The “Greek Freak” is averaging 28.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, solidifying his status as one of the league’s top players.
Jokic, the Denver Nuggets’ All-Star center, has been putting up eye-popping numbers of his own. The Serbian big man is averaging a triple-double with 25.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 10.3 assists per game, making him a strong candidate for MVP consideration.
LeBron James, the face of the Los Angeles Lakers, continues to defy Father Time with his stellar play. The four-time NBA champion is averaging 27.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game, showing why he is still considered one of the best players in the league.
With the All-Star Game just around the corner, fans are eagerly casting their votes to see which players will earn a spot in the star-studded event. And with Antetokounmpo, Jokic, and James leading the way, it’s shaping up to be an exciting showcase of talent.
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