Giannis Antetokounmpo tracking for All-Star captain rematch with LeBron James
By Adam McGee
With the latest release of All-Star voting returns, it appears as if Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is set for a captain’s rematch with LeBron James.
It’s beginning to look increasingly likely that the 2020 All-Star Game will have a very familiar feel to it. In truth, it could be a number of years before the headline dynamic of the game sees any change.
With the release of the second voting returns for this year’s NBA showcase game, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo further consolidated his position as the leading vote-getter in the Eastern Conference.
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Meanwhile, over in the West, the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James ascended to the top of the pile, taking a narrow lead over the previous leader, Dallas Mavericks’ phenom Luka Doncic.
For as much as an all-European battle would have added its own form of intrigue, it’s tough to imagine James’ lead now being relinquished, which means Antetokounmpo and James look set to be team captains in Chicago.
Last year was just the second outing for the new captain based format, where the leading vote-getter from each Conference gets to assemble their team via a draft. Of course, more notably, it was the first time the draft had been televised.
As a result, Giannis and LeBron feel in many ways like the faces of this format of the All-Star Game, and look set to be matched up against each other once again.
From a narrative sense, there’s certainly plenty to get behind with the idea of Team Giannis taking on Team LeBron once again, as James remains the NBA’s biggest star and its legacy superstar as he moves into the latter stages of his career, while Antetokounmpo has stepped forward as the player most likely and most ready to fully live up to the standards set by LeBron.
There is still an element of added intrigue to be resolved, as the race for top vote-getter is still very much in the balance.
James currently leads the way with 3,359,871 votes, with Doncic close behind on 3,277,870, and then Giannis coming in at 3,259,383. With only 100,000 votes separating the top three, the lead is still very much to play for before voting closes on Martin Luther King Day.
Of course, those are just the fan votes, and the media vote will also hold 50 percent of the weight for the final tally, although it’s almost impossible to imagine that leading to an outcome other than Antetokounmpo v James either.
Given the highly competitive nature of both, it’s unlikely that Antetokounmpo or James will have forgotten the 27-point second half turnaround that Team LeBron put together to win by 14 points in last year’s iteration of the game.
dark. Next. Inconsistent three-point shooting a concern
Perhaps Giannis the GM will be better a year on, but failing that, Giannis the player has certainly taken meaningful further strides.