James, Curry to serve as all-star captains

Two stars will pick teams from all-stars voted in by fans

CLEVELAND — LeBron James can add “Captain” to his list of nicknames.

The Cavaliers star led fan voting for the Feb. 18 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles, meaning he will pick one of the teams as the league this year abandons conference affiliations for this first time.

After totaling 2,638,294 votes, James will make his 14th consecutive All-Star appearance, all as a starter, which stands one behind Kobe Bryant. James is the alltime leader in All-Star points.

The league announced the game’s starters on TNT NBA Tip-Off Thursday night.

Joining James from the Eastern Conference are the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, who received more player votes than James and was second in the fan voting (2,530,211), the Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid, the Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving and the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan.

The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry will be the other captain. Other West representatives are Curry’s teammate Kevin Durant, the Houston Rockets’ James Harden and the New Orleans

Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.

The only position designations in the voting were frontcourt and backcourt.

James will make the first pick because he had a larger fan total than Curry (2,379,494). The first four selections must come from the list of starters. The reserves, selected by NBA coaches, will be announced on Jan. 23, the team rosters on Jan. 25.

Fan voting made up 50 percent of the selection, with the player vote and that of a media panel 25 percent each.