The first returns of the 2018 NBA All-Star votes are in and Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons rank in the top four at their positions.
Embiid currently is third among all Eastern Conference frontcourt players with 433,161 votes. He trails only overall leading vote-getter Giannis Antetokounmpo (863,416) and LeBron James (856,080). Kristaps Porzingis (359,459) and Kevin Love (221,969) round out the top five.
In the Eastern Conference guards voting, Simmons (210,085) is fourth behind Kyrie Irving (802,834), DeMar DeRozan (259,368) and Victor Oladipo (251,886). Simmons is one spot ahead of John Wall (175,990).
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Kevin Durant (767,402), Anthony Davis (393,000) and DeMarcus Cousins (356,340) are top three in the Western Conference frontcourt while Stephen Curry (735,115), James Harden (602,040) and Russell Westbrook (438,469) lead the guards.
Fan voting accounts for 50 percent of the votes and can be cast through NBA.com, the NBA app, Facebook and Twitter with #NBAVOTE, Google Search, Amazon Alexa, Sina Weibo and Tencent.
Current NBA players and a select group of media members will account for the remaining 50 percent of the votes. These ballots will include three frontcourt players and two guards from each conference. The reserves will be chosen by head coaches.
Once the teams are selected, the starters who received the most fan votes in each conference will be named captains. The NBA is implementing a new format for this season’s All-Star Game wherein each captain will pick their teams from the starters and reserves in either conference.
NBA
The starters and captains will be announced Jan. 18, the reserves Jan. 23 and the rosters Jan. 25. The 2018 NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.