Steph & LeBron lead Conferences in second returns of the 2018 NBA All-Star Voting

What's the story?

LeBron James and Stephen Curry lead their respective conferences in NBA All-Star voting. LeBron leads the balloting with less than a week remaining in the fan voting.

In case you didn't know...

Under a new All-Star game format, the player with the maximum votes in each conference will be the captains of their respective conference teams and will be choosing his team from a pool of players who were voted in as starters and reserves.

The heart of the matter...

According to the second vote tabulation released on Thursday, James has surpassed Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and now leads him by more than 140,000 votes. Golden State's Stephen Curry leads the voting in the Western Conference, pulling ahead of teammate Kevin Durant by more than 40,000 votes.

The Second #NBAAllStar Voting Returns for Western Conference players!VOTE NOW: https://t.co/UjbrNUQ7Vw pic.twitter.com/P9Y0ufSIvd

— 2018 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 11, 2018

Players will be sorted by conference and position (guards and frontcourt players), and the two top guards and three top frontcourt players will be named starters. NBA head coaches will select the reserves. The two captains will then draft a team based on the pool of players.

In the Eastern Conference, James (1,622,838), Antetokounmpo (1,480,954) and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid are currently the top three frontcourt players in the fan vote. On Fourth is the New York's star Kristaps Porzingis (640,928). Kyrie Irving (1,370,643) and Toronto's DeMar DeRozan (537,168) are the top two guards. Philadelphia's Ben Simmons (397,942) is third.

The Second #NBAAllStar Voting Returns for Eastern Conference players!VOTE NOW: https://t.co/UjbrNUQ7Vw pic.twitter.com/pd1IaxfinV

— 2018 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 11, 2018

In the Western Conference, Durant (1,326,059), New Orleans' Anthony Davis (664,687) and Golden State's Draymond Green (616,730) are the top three frontcourt players. New Orleans' DeMarcus Cousins (587,835) is fourth. Curry (1,369,658) and Houston's James Harden (978,540) are the top two guards. Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (791,332) is third.

What's next?

Voting will conclude on Monday. The starters and captains will be revealed Jan. 18, and the reserves will be announced Jan. 23. Full team rosters will be announced Jan. 25 and the All-Star Game will be held on Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.

Author's take

It will be interesting to see how this new format of two captains pans out and how they chose their teams.