LeBron James takes overall All-Star voting lead over Luka Doncic

The NBA released the latest returns and the Los Angeles Lakers star is in line to become a captain of the game for the third straight year.

After the early returns indicated a changing of the guard in the All-Star voting, the newest returns released by the NBA on Jan. 9 shows that the love for LeBron James is still as strong as ever.

After trailing both Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetkounmpo in the first voting returns, LeBron is now the leading vote-getter in NBA All-Star voting for 2020. If the results hold at this pace, James will be a captain in the All-Star Game for the third straight season. Although the fan vote accounts for only 50 percent of the All-Star voting results, the two captains will be selected by the player with the highest vote total in each conference.

According to the NBA, James has a lead of over 81,000 over Doncic in the Western Conference. Giannis Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, increased his lead to become the captain from the Eastern Conference for the second straight seasons.

As for other Lakers, Anthony Davis looks like a lock to start alongside his teammate LeBron as Davis currently had 3.1 million votes, trailing only Doncic and James in the West. Dwight Howard also remains in the top-10 in All-Star votes while the Alex Caruso gag continues to get even funnier, with Caruso moving into sixth place among guards for All-Star votes.

Below are the full top 10 for backcourt and frontcourt for each conference.

Western Conference
Frontcourt   Guards
1.  LeBron James (LAL) 3,359,871 1. Luka Dončić (DAL) 3,277,870
2.  Anthony Davis (LAL) 3,124,446 2. James Harden (HOU) 2,167,269
3. Kawhi Leonard (LAC) 2,210,539 3. Damian Lillard (POR) 687,855
4. Paul George (LAC) 845,719 4. Stephen Curry (GSW) 595,913
5. Nikola Jokić (DEN) 559,881 5. Russell Westbrook (HOU) 581,500
6. Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) 545,385 6. Alex Caruso (LAL) 528,246
7. Kristaps Porzingis (DAL) 540,603 7. Donovan Mitchell (UTA) 449,835
8. Carmelo Anthony (POR) 520,021 8. Devin Booker (PHX) 381,071
9. Brandon Ingram (NOP) 444,522 9. D’Angelo Russell (GSW) 365,730
10. Dwight Howard (LAL) 390,037 10. Ja Morant (MEM) 257,433
 

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt   Guards
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 3,259,383 1. Trae Young (ATL) 1,389,628
2. Joel Embiid (PHI) 1,784,211 2. Kyrie Irving (BKN) 1,351,997
3. Pascal Siakam (TOR) 1,730,763 3. Kemba Walker (BOS) 1,331,577
4. Jimmy Butler (MIA) 1,400,293 4. Derrick Rose (DET) 918,550
5. Jayson Tatum (BOS) 1,182,663 5. Zach LaVine (CHI) 572,022
6. Tacko Fall (BOS) 543,352 6. Kyle Lowry (TOR) 567,896
7. Bam Adebayo (MIA) 349,078 7. Jaylen Brown (BOS) 544,361
8. Gordon Hayward (BOS) 291,608 8. Ben Simmons (PHI) 456,066
9. Domantas Sabonis (IND) 239,639 9. Bradley Beal (WAS) 447,107
10. Andre Drummond (DET) 228,190 10. Fred VanVleet (TOR) 351,391