NEW YORK, United States—Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James remains the top overall vote-getter in the second returns of NBA all-star fan balloting announced Thursday, with more than one million votes.
Three-time NBA champion James, already 12-time NBA all-star, has received 1.06 million votes and leads Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (963,110) in voting for Eastern Conference frontcourt players.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, a three-time all-star, is first among backcourt players in the East with 971,362 votes, ahead of the 514,866 of Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade.
In the Western Conference, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the reigning two-time Most Valuable Player, leads all vote-getters with 990,390 in voting for backcourt players.
Warriors teammate Kevin Durant leads the list of frontcourt players (987,479).
In revised voting procedures this year, fans account for 50 percent of the all-star vote, and the remaining 50 percent is divided among media members and NBA players.
The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters. Voting concludes on Jan. 16 and the starters for the Feb. 19 All-Star Game in New Orleans will be announced on Jan. 19.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks fined Derrick Rose around $200,000 (188,350 euros) for his mysterious no-show, the US media reported on Thursday.
Rose created a sensation on Monday when he failed to appear for the Knicks’ 110-96 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The New York Post said in a report Thursday that Rose had been fined $193,848—1/110th of his $21.3 million salary—mirroring the formula used by the NBA for a one-game suspension.
“The team fined him a pretty hefty amount—the amount of the fine for missing a game,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek was quoted as saying.
Rose angered the Knicks management after disappearing without notifying team officials or explaining his absence.
He also ignored calls from team officials attempting to locate him.
He later explained that he had travelled to visit family in Chicago, saying he needed “space.”
Rose returned to the team Tuesday and apologized to his teammates, coaches, president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills.
“When I was in the room I felt like they understood where I was coming from,” Rose said of Knicks management.
Rose told reporters prior to the Knicks’ 104-89 win over his former team, the Chicago Bulls, on Thursday that he didn’t regret making his unscheduled trip.
“Family over everything,” he said.
And Rose, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, hopes the Knicks will still want to re-sign him.
“I hope one incident didn’t change their minds. Who knows? This is a business and if it was to happen I’m still going to play the way I normally know how to play no matter where I’m at.”
Rose, who scored 25 points in his first game back with the Knicks on Wednesday — a nail-biting loss to Philadelphia — scored 17 against the Bulls on Thursday and said he’d been welcomed back warmly by the team, the fine notwithstanding.
“Right when I came back, I felt nothing but love,” Rose said. “I apologized to them and like I said, it eases everything when they understand.”