NBA All-Star Game 2018: When & Where to Catch Captains & Starters Announcement

Maurice BobbJan 16, 2018

The votes are in.

With the final installment of fan, player and media voting now closed, NBA fans are now one step closer to an all-new All-Star Game 2018 experience in Los Angeles that the league hopes will revitalize its midseason classic.

This is the second straight year that the basketball players and media joined in on the voting fun with fans to select the All-Star Game starters. As for the breakdown, the fan vote accounts for 50 percent, while the player and media vote represents 25 percent each.

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The new twist, though, is that there will be two team captains (one from each conference) selected that will have the ability to draft their respective teams from a pool of players that are voted in as starters and reserves. Under this revamped format, captains will be able to choose players for their squad regardless of conference affiliation, making this year the first time the All-Star Game won't feature a matchup between the Eastern and Western Conference.

The captains are chosen based on who receives the most fan votes in each conference.

At last count, LeBron James was the leading vote-getter in the Eastern Conference and overall with 1,622,838 votes, while Stephen Curry was the leading vote-getter in the Western Conference with 1,369,658 votes.

The Milwaukee Bucks' Swiss Army knife, Giannis Antetokounmpo was second in the East with 1,480,954 votes, with Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (784,287) and New York Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis (640,928) rounding out the East frontcourt's top four.

For the East guards, the Boston Celtics' Kyrie Irving was in the top spot with 1,370,643 votes. The Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan (537,168) and Philadelphia's Ben Simmons (397,942) hold second and third place, respectively.

Kevin Durant is the second leading vote-getter out West, with the New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis (664,687) in second place and Golden State's Draymond Green in third for the frontcourt.

Joining Curry in the backcourt's top three are the Houston Rockets' James Harden (978,540) and the Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook (791,332).

NEW ORLEANS - FEBRUARY 19: Anthony Davis #23 of the Western Conference All-Star Team holds up the MVP trophy after the 2017 NBA All-Star Game on February 19, 2017 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowl

Bill Baptist/Getty Images

If James' and Curry's leads hold, they will most likely be selected as the two captains, along with the reveal of the All-Star Game starters on Thursday, Jan. 18 during TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by Autotrader at 6 p.m. ET, featuring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.

The 14 reserves, who are selected by NBA head coaches, will be announced five days later on the network Tuesday, Jan. 23, during TNT NBA Tip-Off at 7 p.m. ET. Lastly, the final team rosters will be broadcast on Thursday, Jan. 25, during an exclusive one-hour edition of TNT NBA Tip-Off at 7 p.m. ET.

Unfortunately, the All-Star draft won't be televised.

Voting concluded Monday night at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players and media were able to complete one full ballot, with the ability to select three frontcourt players and two guards from each conference.

The new numbers are still being tallied, but once they are official, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups—fan votes, player votes and media votes.

NEW ORLEANS - FEBRUARY 19: Anthony Davis #23 of the Western Conference is pictured with Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charley Barkley after the 2017 NBA All-Star Game with his MVP trophy on February 19, 2017 at the Smoothie King Center

Tom O'Connor/Getty Images

A player's individual score will be calculated by taking the weighted rank of the fan vote, player vote and media vote and averaging the three. Based on those numbers, the five players with the best scores in the Eastern and Western Conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters. In the event of a tie, the fan votes will serve as the tiebreaker for players with the same score in a position group.

Not surprisingly, the process for determining the head coaches remains unchanged. The Eastern Conference and Western Conference coach with the best record in their respective conferences two weeks prior to the game will get the nod. Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens and Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr are both ineligible, though, because they coached the game last season. And while there's no longer an East vs. West scenario, the coaches will align with the respective captain from each conference.

The 67th All-Star Game, which will be played at the Staples Center on Sunday, Feb. 18 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT), will be televised on TNT for the 16th straight year.

See below for the second fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2018.

NBA ALL-STAR VOTING 2018

Eastern Conference