James, Durant lead in early stages of NBA All-Star voting

James, Durant lead in early stages of NBA All-Star voting

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Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is nearing the top of the NBA’s all-time scoring list, leading the fan vote for the league’s All-Star Game in his first return announced Thursday.

Fifteen days after voting opened, James received 3,168,694 votes.

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is the Eastern Conference’s top vote earner with 3,118,545 votes.

The player who leads the votes in each conference will captain two All-Star teams.

James has captained all five All-Star Games using that format, and his team beat the Eastern team captained by Durant in 2020 and 2021.

Voting for the mid-season show scheduled for February 19th in Salt Lake City will continue until January 21st.

James’ Lakers have struggled this season, currently sitting 12th in the West and out of playoff position, but James himself is nearing the league’s most coveted record.

He’s on pace to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) as the league’s all-time leading scorer, perhaps in February before the All-Star Game.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was second to Durant in the Eastern Conference frontcourt player voting with 2,998,327 votes, followed by Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (2,226,712).

Denver’s two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, Nikola Jokic, is second in the West behind James (2,237,768 votes), while James’ Lakers teammate Anthony Davis (2,063,325 votes) is third.

Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell are also currently in the East’s starting lineup.

In the West, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Dallas’ Luka Doncic hold off the remaining two starting spots.

bb/sst

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