The third returns on All-Star voting are in. LeBron James continues to lead all players with 971,299 votes, followed closely by Stephen Curry with 958,014 votes. The big takeaway is the huge difference Anthony Davis, with 922,381 votes, has amassed over Blake Griffin for top Western Conference frontcourt player. Davis led Griffin by 328,739 votes in the second returns. Now that lead is 431,595. Despite the Pelicans not getting enough nationally-televised games to showcase Davis, the public seems to have been following The Brow's ascension closely.
Anthony Davis is pulling away in latest All-Star voting
The third returns on All-Star voting have been tallied and there aren’t any surprises at the top, with LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis dominating their competition.
The starters for both conferences at the moment would be:
Eastern Conference
LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Western Conference
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)
Some observations:
- Kyle Lowry has surpassed Kyrie Irving for third among the East's guards. It's unlikely he catches Dwyane Wade, who has actually stretched his lead by around 5,000 votes against the third-most voted guard. But the votes make Lowry a shoo-in to get voted on by the coaches. So it looks like Dwane Casey won't have to fight anyone.
- Kobe Bryant remains one of the league's most popular players. Kobe will start for the West unless James Harden makes a huge push late, which seems unlikely.
- Harden has more votes than six players who will actually start the game. The power of the Mamba Army is undeniable.
- Kevin Durant's early season absence is costing him votes. Durant will be voted in by coaches, but it's still strange to see the league's MVP so low in All-Star voting.
- Nick Young has more votes than Serge Ibaka. Make of that what you will.
- Carmelo Anthony could start while playing for the worst team in the league. I'm not sure that has ever happened before.
All-Star weekend will be held in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Feb. 13-15. To vote, visit NBA.com/allstar. Voting ends Jan. 19 and the starters will be announced Jan. 22.
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