MILWAUKEE’S GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO LEADS IN FIRST FAN RETURNS OF NBA ALL-STAR VOTING 2018 PRESENTED BY VERIZON

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2018 – The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, who made his NBA All-Star Game debut last season, is the leading vote-getter in the first fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2018 presented by Verizon.

Antetokounmpo received 863,416 votes to edge the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (856,080) by 7,336 votes for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and overall after the first 12 days of fan voting.  In the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant leads with 767,402 votes and teammate Stephen Curry is next with 735,115 – a difference of 32,287 votes.

The 67^th NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.  TNT will televise the midseason showcase at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, marking Turner Sports’ 33^rdyear of NBA All-Star coverage.

Joining Antetokounmpo and James, a 13-time All-Star, at the top of the Eastern Conference frontcourt are Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (433,161) and Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks (359,459).  Four-time All-Star Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics leads among East guards with 802,834 votes, followed by three-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors (259,368) and Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers (251,886).

Durant, the reigning Finals MVP, is joined at the top of the West frontcourt by two members of the New Orleans Pelicans, 2017 NBA All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis (393,000) and three-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins (356,340), followed by the Warriors’ Draymond Green (325,612).  In voting for the West guards, Curry is followed by the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (602,040) and reigning Kia NBA MVP Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder (438,469).

Under a new All-Star Game format that replaces the traditional matchup between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, the team rosters will be chosen by two captains from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves.  The captains will be the All-Star starter from each conference who receives the most fan votes in his conference.

TNT will reveal the All-Star Game starters, including the two captains, on Thursday, Jan. 18 during TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by Autotrader at 6 p.m. ET, featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.  The network will announce the reserves, as selected by NBA head coaches, on Tuesday, Jan. 23 during TNT NBA Tip-Off at 7 p.m. ET.  The team rosters will be revealed on Thursday, Jan. 25 during a special one-hour edition of TNT NBA Tip-Off at 7 p.m. ET.

For the second consecutive year, NBA players and basketball media will join fans in selecting the All-Star Game starters.  Fans will account for 50 percent of the vote, while all current players and a media panel will account for 25 percent each.

Players and select media will be able to complete one full ballot, featuring three frontcourt players and two guards each from both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.

After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes.  Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes.  The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters.  Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.

The next fan voting update will be shared on Thursday, Jan. 11.  Voting will conclude on Monday, Jan. 15 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

See below for the first fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2018 presented by Verizon.

NBA ALL-STAR VOTING 2018 PRESENTED BY VERIZON

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt

1          Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 863,416
2          LeBron James (CLE) 856,080
3          Joel Embiid (PHI) 433,161
4          Kristaps Porzingis (NYK) 359,459
5          Kevin Love (CLE) 221,969
6          Al Horford (BOS) 120,016
7          Jayson Tatum (BOS) 98,586
8          Andre Drummond (DET) 85,374
9          Enes Kanter (NYK) 83,102
10        Dwight Howard (CHA) 57,730

Guards

1          Kyrie Irving (BOS) 802,834
2          DeMar DeRozan (TOR) 259,368
3          Victor Oladipo (IND) 251,886
4          Ben Simmons (PHI) 210,085
5          John Wall (WAS) 175,990
6          Dwyane Wade (CLE) 165,163
7          Isaiah Thomas (CLE) 87,680
8          Kyle Lowry (TOR) 85,070
9          Bradley Beal (WAS) 71,079
10        Jaylen Brown (BOS) 51,562

Western Conference

Frontcourt

1          Kevin Durant (GSW) 767,402
2          Anthony Davis (NOP) 393,000
3          DeMarcus Cousins (NOP) 356,340
4          Draymond Green (GSW) 325,612
5          Paul George (OKC) 291,495
6          Kawhi Leonard (SAS) 212,650
7          Carmelo Anthony (OKC) 194,239
8          Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) 188,240
9          Kyle Kuzma (LAL) 184,338
10        LaMarcus Aldridge (SAS) 153,599

Guards

1          Stephen Curry (GSW) 735,115
2          James Harden (HOU) 602,040
3          Russell Westbrook (OKC) 438,469
4          Klay Thompson (GSW) 359,442
5          Manu Ginobili (SAS) 231,460
6          Chris Paul (HOU) 174,343
7          Damian Lillard (POR) 148,622
8          Lonzo Ball (LAL) 120,817
9          Devin Booker (PHO) 91,562
10        Jimmy Butler (MIN) 88,009

How Fans Can Vote:

• NBA.com voting page at NBA.com/vote: Fill out one full ballot per day (per day is defined as once every 24 hours) on NBA.com/vote from a desktop or mobile browser.  Fans can select up to two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference when choosing starters.  During the five “2-for-1 Days,” (Dec. 31, Jan. 4, Jan 11, Jan. 12 and Jan 15) votes through this channel will be counted twice.

• NBA App: Access the ballot and vote through the app, which is available on Android and iOS.  Fans can fill out one full ballot per day and select up to two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference when choosing starters.  During the five “2-for-1 Days,” votes through this channel will be counted twice.

• Facebook: Post the player’s first and last name along with the hashtag #NBAVOTE on your personal Facebook account.  Each post may include only one player’s name.  Fans may post votes for 10 unique players per day from Dec. 25 – Jan. 15.

• Twitter: Tweet, retweet or reply with an NBA player’s first and last name or Twitter handle, along with the hashtag #NBAVOTE. Each tweet may include only one player’s name or handle.  Fans may vote for 10 unique players per day from Dec. 25- Jan. 15.

• Google Search: Search “NBA Vote All-Star” or “NBA Vote Team Name”and use respective voting cards to select teams and then players.  Fans may submit votes for 10 unique players per day from Dec. 25 – Jan. 15.

• Amazon Alexa:  To vote via Amazon Alexa, the user must have an Alexa-enabled device, and enable the “NBA All-Star” skill.  To submit a vote, the user can open the skill with, “Alexa, open NBA All-Star,” and then request to vote for his or her player of choice.  Voters can submit a maximum of one player name per request to Alexa.  Users can submit votes for 10 unique players per Amazon account each day from Dec. 25 – Jan 15.

• Sina Weibo and Tencent: To vote on Sina Weibo (weibo.com), the user must have a Sina Weibo account.  To vote on Sina Weibo, voters must visitChina.NBA.com/vote, and select up to 10 players. To vote on Tencent NBA Community, the user must have a QQ account.  To vote via Tencent NBA Community, voters must visit China.NBA.com/vote, and select up to 10 players.