Fan voting for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game began this week, and fans have already tallied millions of votes for their favorite players across the league, led by Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Steph Curry, all of whom have already garnered more than 2 million votes each.
Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Lakers‘ LeBron James lead the NBA’s first All-Star fan voting returns. Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Wizards’ Bradley Beal join Durant and James as leaders at positions. pic.twitter.com/ukvOeyx49H
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2021
The leaders for the starting units currently are James, Curry, Nikola Jokic, Kawhi Leonard, and Luka Doncic in the West as well as Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Bradley Beal, and Kyrie Irving in the East. Each side features three frontcourt players and two guards, though specific positions don’t matter here.
The fan vote, which accounts for 50 percent of the total vote to decide who starts the All-Star Game in each conference, can be conducted on Twitter or through the NBA’s website or app, where they can submit one ballot per day. Media and player voting accounts for 25 percent each, ending with five-player lineups on each side.
Teams are then drafted by captains (the top vote-getters in each conference), at which point conferences are ignored. The two captains go back and forth selecting players from the total 28-player pool until they each have a full squad. The NBA and the players’ union this week agreed to terms on an All-Star Weekend in Atlanta that will likely include some sort of skills competition in addition to the game.