The Greek phenomenon, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, leads the All-Star balloting after the first 12 days of the fan vote.
Antetokounmpo is ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ star LeBron James by nearly 7,500 votes, leaving Kyrie Irving in third place by more than 50,000 votes in the first vote count, released by the NBA on Thursday.
Kevin Durant (767,402) and Stephen Curry (735,115) are fourth and fifth on the list, respectively, and stand at the top of the vote totals among Western Conference players.
The 23-year-old “Greek Freak” is second in the NBA in scoring (29.1 points per game) and ranks in the top 20 in blocks, steals and rebounds.
Under a new All-Star Game format, the player who receives the most votes in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference will each serve as a captain and will choose teams from the players voted in as starters and reserves, ESPN says.
The starters will be determined by the fan vote as well as a vote among active players and media. Fans will account for 50 percent, while all current players and a media panel will account for 25 percent each.
Players will be sorted by conference and position (guards and frontcourt players), and the two top guards and three top frontcourt players will be named starters. NBA head coaches will select the reserves. The two captains will then draft a team based on the pool of players, ESPN says.
According to ESPN, the Eastern Conference All-Star Game voting through the first 12 days of fan balloting is:
| Frontcourt | |
| 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) | 863,416 |
| 2. LeBron James (CLE) | 856,080 |
| 3. Joel Embiid (PHI) | 433,161 |
| 4. Kristaps Porzingis (NYK) | 359,459 |
| 5. Kevin Love (CLE) | 221,969 |
| 6. Al Horford (BOS) | 120,016 |
| 7. Jayson Tatum (BOS) | 98,586 |
| 8. Andre Drummond (DET) | 85,374 |
| 9. Enes Kanter (NYK) | 83,102 |
| 10. Dwight Howard (CHA) | 57,730 |
| Guards | |
| 1. Kyrie Irving (BOS) | 802,834 |
| 2. DeMar DeRozan (TOR) | 259,368 |
| 3. Victor Oladipo (IND) | 251,886 |
| 4. Ben Simmons (PHI) | 210,085 |
| 5. John Wall (WAS) | 175,990 |
| 6. Dwyane Wade (CLE) | 165,163 |
| 7. Isaiah Thomas (CLE) | 87,680 |
| 8. Kyle Lowry (TOR) | 85,070 |
| 9. Bradley Beal (WAS) | 71,079 |
| 10. Jaylen Brown (BOS) | 51,562 |
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