Third and final wave of votes for the 72nd All Star Game, to be held at the Vivent Arena in Salt Lake City (Utah) on Sunday, February 19, with a novelty in the fight for the captaincy: Giannis Antetokoumpo has overtaken Kevin Durant in the fight to be the second with the most support among fans. The Milwaukee Bucks forward has 5,970,196 votes, 132,014 more than the Brooklyn Nets (5,838,182).
In the absence of the polls closing this Friday the 21st, one of them will lead one of the two teams in the All-Star Game for the fans. The other, if there is no surprising turnaround, will be LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers forward is the leader with 6,506,682 votes and is on his way to his 19th participation, all in a row, which would equal him at the top of appearances with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
In the rest of the headlines there are no changes. Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis would complete the trio of front court (centers, power forwards and small forwards) from the Western Conference along with LeBron. The Denver Nuggets center accumulates 4,718,218 votes and the Los Angeles Lakers power forward, 3,838,171. Y Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics forward, the one from the Eastern Conference: It presents 4,521,414 votes, 203,379 more than the fourth, the center of the Sixers Joel Embiid (4,318,035).
As to guardstwo per conference, Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) They also paint the starting five with their 5,151,822 and 4,905,655 votes, respectively, the highest as point guards and escorts in the West. In the East, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell lead: the one of the Brooklyn Nets already has 3,968,041 supports and the two for the Cleveland Cavaliers, 3,851,233.
Choice of teams and format
Next Thursday the 26th the ten headlines (three front court and two guards by Conference) for the All Star Game, once the vote of the fans (50% of the total weight), the players (25%) and the press (25%) has been counted. A week later, the 14 substitutes will be revealed, seven for each Conference (regardless of their position), chosen by the coaches of the 30 NBA franchises.
The squads, which for the sixth consecutive edition will be chosen by the most voted players from each of the Conferences. In turns, each of them will select their companions, regardless of their Conference, but taking into account their position. With the substitutes, the election turn will be reversed and they will be selected regardless of Conference and position.
The duel will also keep the revolutionary elam ending successfully tested in 2020 in Chicago. The game will not last the usual 48 minutes, but will proceed with the system that gave it spice and competitiveness: the first three quarters start 0-0 and the winner of each one gets a financial prize for a local NGO. Before the last quarter, the scores of the other three are added and a number of points is added to the highest number (24, in homage to Kobe Bryant). And it is played without a time limit until one of the teams reaches that figure that gives victory.