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.<\/p>\n
Fifteen days after voting opened, James received 3,168,694 votes.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is the Eastern Conference’s top vote earner with 3,118,545 votes.<\/p>\n
The player who leads the votes in each conference will captain two All-Star teams.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Voting for the mid-season show scheduled for February 19th in Salt Lake City will continue until January 21st.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell are also currently in the East’s starting lineup.<\/p>\n
In the West, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Dallas’ Luka Doncic hold off the remaining two starting spots.<\/p>\n
bb\/sst<\/p>\n<\/div>\n