WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and the Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to lead the All-Star voting in West and East conferences, according to the fan voting third returns released by NBA on Thursday.
James leads all NBA players with 3,770,807 votes. The superstar continues to be followed in the Western Conference frontcourt by second-place Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks (3,301,825) and third-place Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder (2,583,342).
The Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry (2,979,080) and the Minnesota Timberwolves' Derrick Rose (2,712,938) remain the two front-runners among fans in the west guard group.
In the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo holds the top spot with 3,626,909 votes. He leads a frontcourt group that continues to feature the Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (2,882,227) in second place and the Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (2,292,511) in third place.
The Boston Celtics' Kyrie Irving (3,187,015) is still setting the pace among East Conference guards, followed again by the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (1,738,043) in second place.
The NBA also announced that the 2019 NBA All-Star Draft will be televised on Feb. 7.
According to the rules, the two NBA All-Star Game team captains will draft the rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference, making their selections regardless of conference affiliation. The captains will be the All-Star starter from each conference who receives the most fan votes in his conference.
All-Star Game starters, including the two team captains, will be revealed on Jan. 24, while the names of reserve players will come out on Jan. 31.
The 2019 NBA All-Star Game will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina on Feb. 17.
