Giannis Antetokounmpo moves to front of Eastern Conference All-Star Game balloting, in position to be a 'captain'
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has moved to the front of the Eastern Conference fan voting for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, and with two days left in the voting he's on the precipice of becoming a "captain" for the occasion.
Antetokounmpo had 5,970,196 fan votes entering Thursday, ahead of Brooklyn's Kevin Durant by 132,014. As of last week, Giannis was lagging close to 42,000 votes behind Durant for the top spot in the East, though a sprained knee ligament has sidelined Durant since he last played Jan. 8.
Durant has been captain the past two seasons, a role that entitles the player to participate in a "draft" choosing his all-star teammates. Antetokounmpo was captain each of the two seasons before that. LeBron James, who leads the Western Conference voting, has been a captain in all five seasons of the format.
The fan voting will account for only 50% of the calculus in determining the actual starters. NBA players and a select media panel will account for 25% of the weight.
Fan voting concludes Jan. 21 and starters will be unveiled Thursday, Jan. 26, on TNT.
The game will take place in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Feb. 19. All-star reserves, selected by NBA head coaches, will be unveiled Feb. 2, also on TNT.
Milwaukee native Kevon Looney of Golden State has garnered enough fan votes to rank ninth among Western Conference frontcourt players. Oshkosh native Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana, who has a very strong chance of being named a reserve despite a recent injury, is eighth among Eastern Conference guards.
Jrue Holiday flourishing in weeks before all-star reserves named
There's no suspense regarding whether Antetokounmpo will be among the starters, but what about Jrue Holiday? He wasn't in the top 10 of the fan vote, but he's in great position to get named as a reserve.
Holiday fielded questions after Milwaukee's win over Toronto on Jan. 17 on that very topic and seemed to keep the bar of expectations low before begrudgingly admitting he'd love to take part.
"(If you're an all-star player), you score a lot, you make the game fun, highlights, a lot of dunks," Holiday told reporters. "I don't do any of that, so I don't know how I'm going to be an all-star. I've been scoring a lot, but I don't dunk, I don't run really fast, I don't scream and shout, so I feel like it's entertainment. Entertainment as well as winning, that's one thing I feel like our team has done pretty well, is winning and guys stepping up for our team when our big dogs are down.
"I love my vacation just as much as anybody else. If I go to the break and get to go on a beach somewhere or I get to go home, I'm OK with that. I would love to be an all-star to be completely honest."
Holiday, whose lone all-star appearance came a full 10 years ago when he was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, is scoring 19.4 points per game and handing out 7.4 assists. He's scored 35 and 37 points in the past two games, both victories without Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton available.
"He's one of the best defensive guards, probably the best defensive guard in the league, and now showing how well he can score the ball," teammate Grayson Allen said Tuesday. "The East is really good this year and we've been floating in that second (place in the standings) range, and you don't do that in a tough conference without a couple all-stars on your team. He's been consistent for us. He's an all-star."
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JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giannis Antetokounmpo moves to top of East All-Star Game voting
