Three weeks after the opening of the vote, "King James" is the most popular with 4,825,229 votes collected.
Kevin Durant, leading in the resurrection of the Brooklyn Nets after a disastrous start to the season, but who has just sprained his right knee, follows with 4,509,238 votes.
Which makes them, for the time being, the captains of their respective conferences, West for the first, East for the second.
James, failing for the moment to hope to play the leading roles for the play-offs, LA remaining stuck in 12th place, sees inexorably approaching the most coveted record in the League, that of best scorer in the story.
Unless prevented, at his own pace - he averages 29.1 points this season - he should overtake the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 pts), in February even before the All-Star Game, where he could moreover record a 19th record participation, tied with its glorious elder.
Behind him and Durant is Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) with 4,367,306 votes.
Stephen Curry (Golden State) follows a little further with 3,901,808 votes.
If the current photograph does not change by January 21, the closing date of the votes, Luka Doncic (Dallas), Nikola Jokic, double MVP in title (Denver), and Anthony Davis (Lakers) are the most acclaimed at the West behind James and Curry.
In the East, the board has changed slightly, since Jayson Tatum (Boston) is ahead of Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) for the third inside position, alongside Durant and Antetokounmpo.
Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn) and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland) always completing the rank of holders.
Rudy Gobert (Utah), selected in the last three editions among the substitutes, still does not appear in the top 10 votes revealed by the NBA.
The French pivot, who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is slightly below his best statistical averages (14.1 pts, 12 rebounds, 1.3 against average), and could suffer from it in the eyes of the coaches who will choose the players of bench.
The fan vote represents 50% of the votes, the players 25% and the journalists 25%.
© 2023 AFP