Lakers' LeBron James leads latest round of All-Star voting

Lakers’ LeBron James leads latest round of All-Star voting

Forward Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers and LeBron James of the Lakers are likely to be All-Star game starters, based on fan balloting.

By Dan LoumenaAssistant Sports Editor

Jan. 9, 2020 2:50 PM PT

Lakers forward LeBron James has surpassed Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as the top vote-getter in fan balloting for the NBA All-Star game, the league announced Thursday.

James received 3,359,871 votes, 82,001 more than Doncic. Lakers forward Anthony Davis was third in the Western Conference at 3,124,446.

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is next in balloting among frontcourt plays at 2,210,539, followed by teammate Paul George (845,719). Lakers center Dwight Howard is 10th (390,037).

Joining Doncic among top vote-getters in the West backcourt are Houston’s James Harden (2,167,269) and Portland’s Damian Lillard (687,855). The Lakers’ Alex Caruso is sixth (528,246).

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the Eastern Conference with 3,259,383 votes. Four other frontcourt players have more than 1.1 million votes: Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.

The All-Star game is Feb. 16 at the United Center in Chicago. Fan balloting began on Christmas Day. The top three vote-getters in the frontcourt and top two in the backcourt from each conference will be All-Star game starters. Fans account for 50% of the voting process, while NBA players and a media panel each account for 25%. Voting ends Jan. 20.

The starters and captains, who will be the top vote-getters in each conference, will be announced on Jan. 23 during a TNT broadcast. The reserves will be selected by coaches and announced on Jan. 30 during another TNT broadcast. The captains will draft their teams from the pool of starters and then reserves, regardless of conference affiliation.