Giannis Antetokounmpo (East) and Kevin Durant (West) led their conferences in the initial All-Star voting returns, putting the Bucks and Warriors forwards in line to serve as captains in the new format.
Now, the presumptive favorites – LeBron James and Stephen Curry – have taken the lead.
The full leaderboard:Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1. LeBron James (CLE) 1,622,838
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 1,480,954
3. Joel Embiid (PHI) 784,287
4. Kristaps Porzingis (NYK) 640,928
5. Kevin Love (CLE) 458,157
6. Al Horford (BOS) 229,906
7. Jayson Tatum (BOS) 213,499
8. Enes Kanter (NYK) 159,010
9. Andre Drummond (DET) 139,226
10. Dwight Howard (CHA) 111,768
Guards
1. Kyrie Irving (BOS) 1,370,643
2. DeMar DeRozan (TOR) 537,168
3. Ben Simmons (PHI) 397,942
4. Victor Oladipo (IND) 385,448
5. Dwyane Wade (CLE) 353,273
6. John Wall (WAS) 328,215
7. Isaiah Thomas (CLE) 252,552
8. Kyle Lowry (TOR) 176,590
9. Bradley Beal (WAS) 151,765
10. Jaylen Brown (BOS) 103,622
Western Conference
Frontcourt
1. Kevin Durant (GSW) 1,326,059
2. Anthony Davis (NOP) 664,687
3. Draymond Green (GSW) 616,730
4. DeMarcus Cousins (NOP) 587,835
5. Paul George (OKC) 547,582
6. Kawhi Leonard (SAS) 446,133
7. Carmelo Anthony (OKC) 378,718
8. Kyle Kuzma (LAL) 325,903
9. Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) 320,884
10. LaMarcus Aldridge (SAS) 315,918
Guards
1. Stephen Curry (GSW) 1,369,658
2. James Harden (HOU) 978,540
3. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 791,332
4. Klay Thompson (GSW) 686,825
5. Manu Ginobili (SAS) 657,827
6. Chris Paul (HOU) 331,522
7. Lonzo Ball (LAL) 294,197
8. Damian Lillard (POR) 266,519
9. Jimmy Butler (MIN) 173,245
10. Devin Booker (PHO) 162,970
Antetokounmpo could still overtake LeBron, and Kyrie Irving is also in striking distance of the East captaincy. Curry and Durant are running neck-and-neck in the West.
The rest of the fan voting doesn’t mean much anymore. It’ll serve as just 50% of the formula for selecting All-Star starters, the player (25%) and media (25%) vote also factoring. Each conference’s top two guards and top three frontcourt players in fan voting are likely All-Stars regardless, favored to be picked by reserve-selecting coaches if all else fails. With captains picking teams, I’m not even sure players designated “starters” will actually start. I don’t think people generally care whether someone starts or comes off the bench in the exhibition game, anyway.