Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, also known as the Greek Freak, has up until now been leading the All-Star Game balloting, however figures released by the National Basketball Association (NBA) yesterday showed he has slipped down to second place.
The NBA’s All-Star Game is an annual basketball exhibition game and this year will be held in Los Angeles on February 18, consisting of a mix of the league's star players from the Eastern and Western Conference. The starting lineup for each squad is selected by a combination of fan, player, and media voting, while the reserves are chosen by a vote amongst the head coaches from each squad's respective conference. The vote leaders for each conferences will be assigned as team captains and will be able to select players from the rest of the starters and the reserves, regardless of the conference they play in, to form their own teams.
After making his first NBA All-Star appearance last year, Antetokounmpo was in the top spot for the first round of the All-Star voting Eastern Conference released last week, leading over Cleveland Cavaliers’ star LeBron James by nearly 7,500 votes.
With the new figures released yesterday, with the second returns of fan voting, Antetokounmpo has been overtaken by James in first place with 1,622,838 votes followed by Antetokounmpo at 1,480,954.
Last year, Giannis was the only international player to be selected into the starters position, and it is not too late to vote for him to be in the Number 1 spot again. Voting closes on Monday, Jan. 15 at 11:59 p.m. (USA EST).
There are many ways fans can cast their votes, and new for this season, “2-for-1 Days” will allow fans to have their votes counted twice on Jan. 11, Jan. 12 and Jan. 15 when voting through the NBA App and NBA.com. All “2-for-1 Days” will be designated 12 a.m. – 11:59 p.m. (USA EST).
HOW TO VOTE:
NBA.com voting page: Fill out one full ballot per day (per day is defined as once every 24 hours) on NBA.com/vote from a desktop or mobile browser. Fans can select up to two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference when choosing starters. During the five “2-for-1 Days,” votes through this channel will be counted twice.
NBA App: Access the ballot and vote through the app, which is available on Android and iOS. Fans can fill out one full ballot per day, and select up to two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference when choosing starters. During the five “2-for-1 Days,” votes through this channel will be counted twice.
Facebook: Post the player’s first and last name #GiannisAntetokounmpo along with the hashtag #NBAVOTE on your personal Facebook account. Each post may include only one player’s name. Fans may post votes for 10 unique players per day
Twitter: Tweet, retweet or reply with an NBA player’s first and last name #GiannisAntetokounmpo or their Twitter username along with the hashtag #NBAVOTE. Each tweet may include only one player’s name or username. Fans may vote for 10 unique players per day
Google Search: Search “NBA Vote All-Star” or “NBA Vote Team Name” (i.e., NBA Vote Warriors) and use respective voting cards to select teams and then players. Fans may submit votes for 10 unique players per day . The All-Star Game starters and captains will be revealed Jan. 18, and the reserves will be announced Jan. 23. Full team rosters will later be announced on Jan. 25.