In the early voting returns for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the way after receiving the most fan votes in the opening 12 days.

The 'Greek Freak' surprisingly tops the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry as he garnered 863,416 votes from fans.

He finds himself ahead of James by almost 7,500 votes and will be named as a captain in the league's new All-Star format if he ends up as the top vote-getter in the Eastern Conference.

You can vote for your favourite players as NBA All-Stars every day HERE. Voting closes on January 15th.

Prior to the Bucks' 129-110 loss at home to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, Antetokounmpo spoke to reporters about the possibility of being tasked with picking a team for the showpiece event and made it clear who his first selection would be.

"So, first of all, if my teammates aren't available -- I'm going with my teammates -- I'd gotta go with LeBron James," Antetokounmpo said, per ESPN.

"The best player in the world. We can have a good relationship in free agency -- you never know, he might come play here."

The NBA's revamped system means that the two players with the most votes from each conference will pick teams from the pool of All-Stars voted in as starters and reserves.

The 23-year-old also took time to encourage fans to vote for his Milwaukee teammates Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe and credited them for making life easier for him on the court.

"Now, we have to get Khris [Middleton] and [Eric] Bledsoe -- we have to get them in. ... Without them, I wouldn't be in this situation," he said. "They make the game easier for me."

It's unlikely that the pair will feature in Los Angeles next month but Giannis will definitely take to the floor for his second appearance.

He thanked fans for making him the early leader and joked that "200,000 at least of those votes were from my family."

Like last season, the voting for the All-Star Game is split between fans (50 percent), media (25 percent) and players (25 percent).

The league will announce the next round of fan voting on Thursday with the starters and captains to be revealed on January 18 and the reserves on January 25.

The game will take place at L.A's Staples Center on February 18 and the hope is that the contest will have more of a competitive feel with the alterations in place.

For the first time in the event's history, there will not be a matchup between the conferences and teammates will be able to square off against each other.

The star-studded occasion has lost interest in recent years with the game often being a procession but the NBA has looked to spice things up in an attempt to bring it back to life.