Early results of fan voting for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game were released Thursday, and it was no surprise to see LeBron James’s name near the top. However, the identity of the one player to receive more votes than James might have been a bit unexpected, given that it was not, say, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook, but … Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In other words, fans are showing the “Greek Freak” plenty of love. Not bad for a player who: a) is based in Milwaukee; b) has been to the playoffs just twice in his five seasons with the Bucks, and didn’t make it out of the first round on either occasion; c) was selected just last year for his first All-Star Game; and d) has a last name most people can neither spell nor pronounce (for the record, it’s more or less something like “AHN-day-tuh-KUHM-po”).
What the 23-year-old Athens native also has is remarkable length and athleticism, even by NBA standards, as well as a burgeoning skill set that makes him a menace to opponents at almost any spot on the court, on offense and defense. Last season, Antetokounmpo became the first player in NBA history to finish in the top 20 in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and this season he has dramatically raised his averages in scoring (29.1) and rebounding (10.4), while playing a league-leading 37.9 minutes per game for the 20-16 Bucks.
With 863,416 votes in the first round of announced fan voting, Antetokounmpo was just ahead of James, in second at 856,080, with both well ahead of the third-most-popular player, the Celtics’ Kyrie Irving (802,834). Those players are easily on their way to representing the Eastern Conference on Feb. 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, while Durant (767,402), Curry (735,115) and James Harden (602,040) are the top vote-getters thus far in the West.

source: washingtonpost.com