Damian Lillard reacts in 5 words to Giannis Antetokounmpo's latest All-Star request

After the second return of fan voting for the 2024-25 NBA All-Star Game, Damian Lillard ranks third among guards in the Eastern Conference behind LaMelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell. As the Milwaukee guard looks to collect his ninth All-Star selection, Bucks leader Giannis Antetokounmpo has urged fans to vote.

In a post to his Instagram story Thursday morning, The Greek Freak posted a photo of himself and Lillard on the court, urging fans to vote for his fellow Milwaukeean.

In response, Lillard posted Antetokounmpo's story on his own story, adding:

“lift me up sir lol”

Lillard is just over 161,500 votes out of second place, while Antetokounmpo leads not only the Eastern Conference Frontcourt voting, but all players in the league in fan voting.

The starters for both teams are selected based on votes from fans, NBA players and the media. Reserve players are then chosen based on votes from coaches throughout the league, with each conference selecting seven reserves.

Prior to February's All-Star weekend, the starters will be announced on Jan. 23 on TNT, and the bookings will be announced on Jan. 30 during the network's TNT NBA Tip-Off show.

Looking at Damian Lillard's case for an All-Star selection this season

As mentioned above, Damian Lillard is currently ranked third among guards in the Eastern Conference. With LaMelo Ball sitting nearly 500,000 votes ahead of Lillard, and more than 300,000 votes ahead of Donovan Mitchell, it looks like he will likely earn his second All-Star selection.

The question now is whether Damian Lillard can overtake Donovan Mitchell to secure his spot as an All-Star starter, or if he has to wait for a spot as a backup.

If the current standings hold and Donovan Mitchell secures the starting second baseman spot in the Eastern Conference, Lillard still has a strong case for his ninth All-Star selection.

Lillard is averaging 24.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

At the same time, he has improved both his field goal percentage and his 3-point percentage from last year, while helping lead Milwaukee to fifth place in the Eastern Conference despite a slow season

As fan votes indicate, along with Lillard, both Jalen Brunson i Bring on Young have cases to be selected as All-Star reserves for Eastern Conference guards. Brunson has helped lead the Knicks to third place in the East while averaging 25.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists on 47.7% shooting from the field.

In Young's case, while the Hawks are ranked ninth in the East, Young leads the league with 12.2 assists per game, a noticeable jump from his 10.8 apg average last season. Additionally, Young is averaging 22.6 points and 1.3 steals per game on 40.1% shooting from the floor.

Considering that, while Damian Lillard has a strong case to be selected as the Eastern Conference guard, it's clear that there is some stiff competition.