The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo topped fan ballots after round one of All-Star voting in the Eastern Conference, and nothing changed in round two. Ahead of second-place Jalen Brunson by over 175,000 votes, Giannis is on pace to lead the East again after pacing the entire NBA with a tally of 4,435,266 votes in 2024-25.
Giannis tops Eastern Conference vote-getters with loaded backcourt on his heels
Brunson largely kept pace with Giannis in round two, jumping from third place to second over Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey. Antetokounmpo gained only 25,000 votes on the Knicks star, while he widened his edge on Maxey by over 60,000.
Jan 2, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) celebrates a 122-121 win over the Charlotte Hornets at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
In an Eastern Conference field dominated by guards, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell sit fourth and fifth with 1.75 million and 1.53 million votes.
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic leads the West and all players with over 2.2 million votes.
Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo remain the leaders in their conferences in the second fan returns in NBA All-Star Voting 2026.
Fans (50% of the vote) join NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%) in selecting five players in each conference honored as starters. pic.twitter.com/u8tlbj9GA8
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 6, 2026
If All-Star starters were determined by fan voting alone, today the Eastern Conference would trot out a frontcourt of Giannis and Karl Anthony-Towns, also of the Knicks, who has 898K votes. Maxey and Brunson would take the guard spots, with either Boston’s Jaylen Brown (1.51 million votes) or Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson (526K) at the three, depending on size considerations.
In the West, a knee injury to Nikola Jokic (1.99 million) scrambles the results, as it seems unlikely Jokic will return before the All-Star break (certainly the Nuggets would be extremely cautious about Jokic playing an exhibition game).
The starting five in the West would feature Doncic and Steph Curry (1.84 million) in the backcourt; assuming he stays healthy, Victor Wembanyama (769K) would lead the frontcourt alongside LeBron James (1.06 million). Portland’s Deni Avdija (1.22 million) would play small forward.
Playing through groin and calf strains, Giannis is having himself another MVP-type season in limited minutes. In 28.9 minutes per night, the Greek Freak is averaging 29.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on 64.3% shooting.
The Bucks are 4-1 since his latest injury return, improving to 16-20 on the season.
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