Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to lead the NBA All-Star fan vote in their respective conferences.<\/p>\n
Don\u010di\u0107 has received 2,229,811 votes, giving him a healthy lead on the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Joki\u0107 (1,998,560). The gap is a little smaller between Antetokounmpo (2,092,284) and New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (1,916,497).<\/p>\n
Voting will wrap up on Jan. 14 ahead of the full starter reveal on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Tuesday’s returns is how low LeBron James remains in the Western Conference. The Lakers forward only moved up one spot to eighth place from the initial vote dump<\/a>.<\/p>\n James has only missed the All-Star Game once in his legendary career (2003-04). For a long time, it was pretty much a given he’d be first or second in the fan vote.<\/p>\n Now, the 41-year-old will need a lot of help if he’s going to be an All-Star starter yet again. Because of how the votes are weighted, an eighth-place showing with the fans may knock him out of the picture entirely.<\/p>\n One could question whether James is even deserving of a 22nd All-Star nod on the merits. He has averaged 21.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists though 17 appearances.<\/p>\n Alas, the surefire Hall of Famer probably won’t be left out in the cold. NBA insider Marc Stein<\/a> wrote on Dec. 30 that commissioner Adam Silver “will almost certainly invite James to participate as some sort of commissioner’s pick.” Silver may also have the option of making James an injury replacement.<\/p>\n