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The fans have spoken and they want to see Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and LaMelo Ball.
The early returns for the NBA All-Star Game fan voting are in — with fans getting to vote for five starters from each conference — and there are some familiar names at the top. Based on the voting, the starters would be:
Eastern Conference
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks)
LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
Western Conference
Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
Kevin Durant (Suns)
LeBron James (Lakers)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
The fan votes — which can be cast through Jan. 20 at NBA.com — will count for 50% of picking the starters, with votes from the players (25%) and media (25%) added to that mix. While the fans help choose the starters, the seven reserves for each conference are selected by a vote of the coaches.
Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo lead their respective conferences in the first fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
Next fan update: 1/9. pic.twitter.com/OoIIa3S3fn
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 2, 2025
This year, the format for the All-Star Game has changed, with the NBA trying something else to spark real competition into what has been a dud of a headlining event for several years.
The 12 All-Stars from each conference (24 players in total) will be divided up into three teams of eight players each, with each of the former players on TNT’s Inside the NBA — Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny “the Jet” Smith — serving as the GMs drafting the squads. Those three teams, plus the winning team from Friday night’s Rising Star Challenge (a game of rookies and second-year-players), will enter into a four-team tournament with games to 40. A kind of mini-tournament with shorter games (an idea the NHL has used in its All-Star events, although that league goes with a 3-on-3 tournament). Players such as Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis complained about the new format, saying that they wish…
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Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2025-01-02 19:01:00
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