International players have reigned atop the league rankings for a few years now, raking in MVP awards, NBA Finals trophies and a number of other accolades. Their supremacy is stretching into the 2026 NBA All-Star Game. The first round of fan votes were revealed on Monday, and they should make Europeans very proud. Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic leads all players with 1,249,518 votes, according to the NBA Communications X account.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has already missed 14 games this season due to injury, paces the Eastern Conference with a count of 1,192,296. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has the second-most votes overall, trailing Doncic by more than 120,000. Tyrese Maxey is No. 2 in the East, leading a fierce backcourt race that also includes Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham and Donovan Mitchell.
Stephen Curry, 2024-25 regular season and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama round out the top-five in the West. NBA icon LeBron James sits in ninth, and Deni Avdija is trending toward his first career All-Star appearance after landing in seventh place. There is a good mix of household names and rising talent in these early returns.
When determining who will be the starting five for the East and West squads on Feb. 15, fans comprise 50 percent of the vote. The other 50 percent is split between NBA players and a media panel.
The Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome will serve as the host venue for the festivities, so it is cruelly poetic to see a Lakers player tally more votes than anyone else. James Harden is presently the home team's best shot at receiving representation in the NBA All-Star Game (12th in West).
The next fan vote update will come on Jan. 6.
