The first returns for the NBA All-Star Game voting came in Thursday morning, with LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers leading all players in votes to this point.
While the fan voting will still help decide who starts the game that will be played on Feb. 19 in New Orleans, it is no longer the sole factor.
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This year the NBA decided to make changes to the All-Star voting process, as fans will now only account for 50 percent of the vote total for All-Star starters, with players and a panel of media members accounting for 25 percent each.
There is still time for fans to vote, but as of now James, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving of the Cavaliers and Dwyane Wade of the Chicago Bulls are slated to start for the Eastern Conference, via NBA.com:
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1 LeBron James (CLE) 595,288
2 Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 500,663
3 Kevin Love (CLE) 250,347
4 Joel Embiid (PHI) 221,984
5 Carmelo Anthony (NY) 189,817
6 Jimmy Butler (CHI) 189,066
7 Kristaps Porzingis (NY) 184,166
8 Paul George (IND) 138,332
9 Hassan Whiteside (MIA) 72,628
10 Jabari Parker (MIL) 64,141Guards
1 Kyrie Irving (CLE) 543,030
2 Dwyane Wade (CHI) 278,052
3 DeMar DeRozan (TOR) 253,340
4 Isaiah Thomas (BOS) 193,297
5 Derrick Rose (NY) 129,924
6 Kyle Lowry (TOR) 128,940
7 John Wall (WAS) 87,360
8 Jeremy Lin (BKN) 59,562
9 Kemba Walker (CHA) 52,122
10 Avery Bradley (BOS) 32,822
Antetokounmpo has been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA so far as he is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists at 23.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
While Wade is second in the backcourt voting as of now, that second guard position is one to look out for as there are many guards in the Eastern Conference like DeMar DeRozan, Isaiah Thomas, John Wall or Kemba Walker.
If the voting were to end today it would feature three Cavaliers starting in the East and three Golden State Warriors players starting in the Western Conference, with Kevin Durant leading all vote-getters in the West:
Western Conference
Frontcourt
1 Kevin Durant (GS) 541,209
2 Zaza Pachulia (GS) 439,675
3 Kawhi Leonard (SA) 341,240
4 Anthony Davis (NO) 318,144
5 Draymond Green (GS) 236,315
6 DeMarcus Cousins (SAC) 202,317
7 Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) 125,278
8 LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) 101,724
9 Blake Griffin (LAC) 100,524
10 Marc Gasol (MEM) 97,370Guards
1 Stephen Curry (GS) 523,597
2 James Harden (HOU) 519,446
3 Russell Westbrook (OKC) 501,652
4 Klay Thompson (GS) 293,054
5 Chris Paul (LAC) 173,830
6 Damian Lillard (POR) 117,857
7 Eric Gordon (HOU) 76,609
8 Manu Ginobili (SA) 65,832
9 Andre Iguodala (GS) 64,247
10 Zach LaVine (MIN) 53,642
The biggest surprise in the West voting is Zaza Pachulia ranking second among front court players. Pachulia, who had a strong showing in the voting last year when he was with the Dallas Mavericks, is averaging just 5.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for the Warriors.
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook is currently not slated to start for the West despite averaging a triple-double at 30.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists.
It does not appear that any Los Angeles Lakers players will figure into the vote as none of them are in the top 10 for either the frontcourt or guards, but voting can be done at NBA.com.
