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Los Angeles (AFP) – Stephen Curry (Golden State), albeit under pressure from LeBron James (Lakers), and Kevin Durant (Brooklyn) remain at the top of fan votes for the All-Star Game, which will take place on February 20 in Cleveland, according to a second score released Thursday by the NBA.
After 17 days of voting, Curry, who broke the league’s all-time three-point goal before Christmas, is the most popular with 4,463,426 votes cast.
But James, well on his way to securing an 18th participation, is very close with 4,386,392 and can still overtake him to be named captain of the Western team, with nine days left before the vote closes.
In the East, this role falls for the moment to Kevin Durant, strong of 4,088,334 votes, whose mattress is a little thicker in front of Giannis Antetokounmpo, defending champion with Milwaukee (3,808,458).
The two captains, thus designated by the fans, will compose their team with the other selected players, regardless of the conference from which they come.
While waiting in the West, the other popular players are Nikola Jokic (Denver), MVP of the last season, Andrew Wiggins (Warriors), the phenomenon Ja Morant, currently irresistible, and Luka Doncic (Dallas).
Also note the presence of Rudy Gobert (Utah), 9th in the interior, 16th overall. The French pivot, who is perhaps making his best start to the season (15.5 pts, 15.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks on average) therefore retains all his chances of being selected among the replacements, by the coaches . Which would be his 3rd consecutive participation.
DeMar DeRozan, author of a great start to the season with Chicago conference leader Joel Embiid (Sixers) and Trae Young (Atlanta), round out the virtual major five in the East.
The fan vote represents 50% of the votes, which will be supplemented by those of the players (25%) and journalists (25%).
© 2022 AFP
