Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is unsurprisingly the top vote getter in the East following the first returns for this year’s voting for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
The first voting returns for this year’s All-Star Game surfaced Thursday afternoon and unsurprisingly, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is a leading vote getter in the eyes of NBA fans.
The reigning MVP currently ranks out as the top vote getter in the Eastern Conference at this stage where he’s already earned over a million votes for the fan voting portion of the ballot.
The first EAST returns from #VoteNBAAllStar 2020! Do you agree??
— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) January 2, 2020
Make YOUR vote count twice today by voting here
➡️ https://t.co/KkbGhfwxpd pic.twitter.com/YAc6NeobNh
Antetokounmpo’s 1,073,358 All-Star votes ranks second to second-year Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, who currently leads all players with 1,073,957 votes.
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Seeing the reigning MVP standing as a fixture in All-Star ballots made by fans is far from a shock and it continues to shine a light on how Antetokounmpo stands as one of the most established superstars the NBA has to offer currently.
Of course, should Antetokounmpo keep tracking as the leading vote getter out of the Eastern Conference, he would reprise his role as a captain for the second straight year as he did last season with Los Angeles Lakers superstar, LeBron James.
Voting continues through Jan. 20
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 2, 2020
Fan voting, remember, is only 50 percent of the equation
The respective player vote and media vote count for 25 percent each
PS -- Luka and Giannis as captains picking the two teams on TNT would be good (and historic) international theatre
It was in Charlotte last year where Team Giannis fell to Team LeBron in a 178-164 victory for the three-time NBA champion at the Spectrum Center. As of this writing, Doncic stands in the way of those picking out their teams in the All-Star draft that will be held prior to this year’s game in Chicago next month.
For now, Antetokounmpo remains the only Buck to at least crack the top 10 in voting for forwards and guards to come out of the East as neither Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and so on haven’t garnered substantial votes.
But as Marc Stein of the New York Times mentioned, it’s also important to remember that fan votes account for 50 percent of All-Star voting as the players and media will split the remaining 50 percent of votes for the initial voting to sort out the starters for this year’s game, which lasts until January 19.
And as was the case when Middleton joined Antetokounmpo in Charlotte last year for his first All-Star berth of his career, head coaches will be responsible for filling out the reserves for each conference. That’s where any of the supporting star pieces around Antetokounmpo will have the best shot of giving the Bucks a pair of All-Stars for the second straight year.
As is the case with any and all Bucks news, we’ll keep you updated on Antetokounmpo’s quest to lead all players in All-Star voting over this process as well as whether any of his teammates will join him at this year’s All-Star game in the Windy City.