Lakers News: LeBron James Gaining Ground On Warriors’ Stephen Curry In NBA All-Star Voting After Second Returns

Damian Burchardt
3 Min Read
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James continues his strong performances on and off the court, as remained one of the most-voted players in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game ballot following the second fan returns.

After the release of the first All-Star Voting results, James led the Western Conference frontcourt players with just over two million votes. The 37-year-old forward ranked second overall in the West, trailing Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

Curry led in both conferences with nearly 2.6 million votes, edging the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant in second and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo in third. Whoever finishes first in the West becomes the captain, which James has been in all four years under the new format.

The four-time NBA champion has led his teams to a victory in each of the previous four All-Star Games.

While James isn’t currently there, he is gaining ground on Curry in the second voting returns, via NBA PR:

More Lakers featured among the top-10 vote-getters. Anthony Davis ranked fifth among the West’s forwards with 1,342,294 votes and Carmelo Anthony placed seventh with 886,014. Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook received 576,512 votes, good enough for the sixth position among the conference’s guards.

James assess first half of Lakers’ 2021-22 season

James certainly hoped the Lakers would have a more successful first part of the 2021-22 season. L.A. reached the halfway mark with a 21-20 record after dealing with injuries and then a coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak since the campaign began in mid-October.

But with the Lakers going on a four-game winning streak while owning the NBA’s best offense during that stretch recently, James thinks the best is yet to come for the Purple and Gold.

“I think as of late, before tonight, we’ve played some really good basketball,” James said when asked to assess the first half of the season after the 127-119 loss to the Grizzlies.

“We want to continue to trend over the next 42. Like I said, the best thing about our ballclub right now is that we’re getting healthy. We’re logging minutes, we’re getting some good chemistry and obviously, we played a great team tonight.

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Damian Burchardt is a sports writer who has covered basketball, soccer, and many other disciplines for numerous U.K. and U.S. media outlets, including The Independent, The Guardian, The Sun, The Berkshire Eagle, The Boston Globe, and The Ringer.