Giannis Antetokounmpo second in all-star voting behind LeBron James

The NBA released the second returns in its fan voting for the All-Star Game on Thursday and there are new leaders at the top of each conference.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was the league's leading vote-getter in last Thursday's check-in, dropped to second this week. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, who trailed Antetokounmpo by 7,336 votes last week, now is the No. 1 vote-getter in the NBA with 1,622,838 votes, followed by Antetokounmpo at 1,480,954.

Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving leads the Eastern Conference backcourt with 1,370,643 votes, more than double that of second-place DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors (537,168).

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In the Western Conference, Golden State Warriors duo Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are at the top of the heap, representing the backcourt and frontcourt categories, respectively. Curry is slightly ahead of Durant for the top spot — 1,369,658 to 1,326,059. This year that means something as the leading vote-getter from each conference will serve as a captain and pick his team — ignoring conference affiliation — for the 67th edition of the All-Star Game, which will be played Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.

The starters, including the two captains, will be announced Jan. 18 on TNT. The reserves will be unveiled Jan. 23 on TNT.

Before voting closes at 10:59 p.m. (Central) on Jan. 15, the Bucks are hoping Antetokounmpo and their other standouts — Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe — can make a push in the fan vote. To that end, they recently released a promotional video featuring the three players — "EKG, The Heartbeat of Milwaukee."