Kevin Durant and LeBron James once again met at the top, as both stars from the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively, led the first round of the 2021 NBA All-Star Game fan voting, released by the NBA on Thursday.
Despite missing all of the games last season due to a torn Achilles tendon, the now part of the Brooklyn Nets 'big three,' Durant, led all the fan voting with 2,302,705. He finished on top of the East with just a few votes ahead of the Western Conference top finisher, LeBron, who had 2,288,676.
Aside from Durant and LeBron, the only player in the league who reached the two million-mark was Stephen Curry, who finished the initial voting with 2.11 million votes.
As a result, Steph was the runaway leader for the top spot among the guards from the West, ahead of Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic with 1.39 million, and Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard, who finished third among the guards with 998,853.
According to ESPN, Durant was followed by reigning MVP, the Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the East's frontcourt race with 1.75 million votes, while Philadelphia 76ers center, Joel Embiid, finished at the third spot with 1.58 million votes.
Also, Boston Celtics main man Jayson Tatum finished at the fourth spot in the frontcourt in the East with 822,151 under his name.
The NBA's leading scorer, the Washington Wizards guard, Bradley Beal, led the race for the East Backcourt players with close to 1.3 million votes and was chased by the newest member of the Brooklyn big three, James Harden, followed by Kyrie Irving, with 1,014,763 votes.
Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics guard, along with Bulls' Zach Lavine and Hawks guard Trae Young, was chasing the East Backcourt players' list.
Read also: NFL COVID-19 Protocols Evolve in View of Ensuring a Safe Super Bowl LV
While in the West's frontcourt, LeBron was followed by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic with 1.47 million, and LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard with 1.28 million votes.
LeBron's teammate Anthony Davis stands at the fourth spot with 1.19 million votes, while Leonard's teammate Paul George is at fifth with 549,280.
The numbers are just the result of the first round of voting released by the NBA, as the All-Star voting that started on January 28 will continue until February 16. Fans will still be able to cast their votes using the NBA's website, its application, or on Twitter.
This year's All-Star stats will be determined through fan voting, which is 50 percent of the overall vote, while player and media voting has 25 percent bearing each. The starting lineup for the West and the East will be announced on February 18 on TNT, NBC Sports reported.
NBA coaches will determine the reserves for each team and will be announced on February 23.
Some fans are excited about the upcoming All-Star Game as they tweeted that they cannot wait to see the duel between LeBron and Durant on the court.
