LeBron James, Kevin Durant lead voting after first All-Star Ballot returns

LeBron James of the Miami Heat and Paul George of the Indiana Pacers top the Eastern Conference, while Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers lead the Western Conference after the first returns of NBA All-Star Balloting 2014 presented by Sprint.

James, the reigning Kia NBA MVP and Finals MVP, is the overall leader with 609,336 votes, while Durant is second with 607,407 votes.

James, George (489,335) and the New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony (424,211) pace the Eastern Conference's frontcourt players. The Heat's Dwyane Wade (396,279) is the East's leading vote-getter in the backcourt, followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving (365,712).

Durant, the NBA's leading scorer, is joined in the frontcourt in the West by the Houston Rockets' Dwight Howard (295,120) and the L.A. Clippers' Blake Griffin (292,925). Bryant (501,215) and the Clippers' Chris Paul (393,313) pace all Western Conference backcourt players.

Balloting concludes on Monday, Jan. 20, and starters will be announced live on TNT on Thursday, Jan. 23.

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt:

  1. LeBron James (Mia) 609,336
  2. Paul George (Ind) 489,335
  3. Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 424,211
  4. Roy Hibbert (Ind) 208,369
  5. Chris Bosh (Mia) 156,364
  6. Kevin Garnett (BKN) 102,825
  7. Joakim Noah (Chi) 75,229
  8. Jeff Green (Bos) 55,912
  9. Luol Deng (Chi) 54,340
  10. Tyson Chandler (NYK) 51,738

Backcourt:

  1. Dwyane Wade (Mia) 396,279
  2. Kyrie Irving (Cle) 365,712
  3. Derrick Rose (Chi) 272,410
  4. John Wall (Was) 124,851
  5. Ray Allen (Mia) 99,464
  6. Rajon Rondo (Bos) 80,889
  7. Deron Williams (BKN) 44,282
  8. George Hill (Ind) 42,536
  9. Evan Turner (Phi) 33,605
  10. Mario Chalmers (Mia) 32,996

Western Conference

Frontcourt:

  1. Kevin Durant (OKC) 607,407
  2. Dwight Howard (Hou) 295,120
  3. Blake Griffin (LAC) 292,925
  4. Kevin Love (Min) 275,506
  5. Tim Duncan (SA) 217,271
  6. Anthony Davis (NO) 149,579
  7. Pau Gasol (LAL) 133,199
  8. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 132,818
  9. Andre Iguodala (GS) 109,745
  10. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 89,093

Backcourt:

  1. Kobe Bryant (LAL) 501,215
  2. Chris Paul (LAC) 393,313
  3. Stephen Curry (GS) 327,449
  4. Jeremy Lin (Hou) 240,404
  5. James Harden (Hou) 198,667
  6. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 149,065
  7. Tony Parker (SA) 112,423
  8. Ricky Rubio (Min) 63,096
  9. Steve Nash (LAL) 60,782
  10. Damian Lillard (Por) 55,847