In his 19th NBA season, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has proven that he remains among the NBA’s best players at 37 years old.
James being an All-Star seems like a foregone conclusion with his popularity, but his play has more than validated it as well. He is currently posting his highest scoring average since the 2010 season and in the month of December averaged a ridiculous 30.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists.
The voting for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game has already begun and to the surprise of no one, LeBron is among the highest vote-getters in either conference.
James is one of just four players with at least two million votes and currently is in the lead of Western Conference frontcourt players after the first returns, via NBA PR:
Golden State's Stephen Curry and Brooklyn's Kevin Durant lead the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, in the first fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting presented by Tissot.
The next NBA All-Star fan voting update will be shared Thursday, Jan. 13. pic.twitter.com/B0kSITw4Sr
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 6, 2022
As it stands, LeBron trails only the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo in total votes. He is currently in line to start in the West along with Curry, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Paul George. The current East starters are Durant, Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan and James Harden.
LeBron isn’t the only Laker in the top-10 in voting after the first returns as Anthony Davis is currently sixth in frontcourt voting while Carmelo Anthony is eighth. Russell Westbrook is also represented, currently sitting at ninth among Western Conference guards.
In a season when many wondered if James could continue his unreal level of play, he has shown his greatness in every way, playing every position on the court for the Lakers and doing whatever is needed on any given night. His standing amongst the Western Conference All-Stars is more than deserved based on his performance this season.
Since the NBA switched to its new format though, James has been the West’s captain as the top vote-getter every year. That streak is in jeopardy of coming to an end if he does not pass Curry though, so Lakers fans have work to do in the coming weeks to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Anthony believes James’ scoring is underappreciated
James might be the greatest all-around player in NBA history, but with so much focus on his passing and playmaking, Anthony believes his ability to score is somewhat underappreciated.
“As far as scoring the basketball, I think that’s one of his most under-appreciated aspects of his game,” Anthony said. “He’s always been able to score the basketball. Now he’s just taking advantage of that, especially when he’s at the four and he’s at the five. He’s setting picks and he’s rolling to the basket. He’s a big target. You got to find him and he’s taking advantage of that.”
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