Final All-Star voting update sees Kobe on pace to start, again

Draymond Green's mom thinks he'd be an All-Star if the game wasn't just a popularity contest. 

You can disagree, of course, but she's got a case. Green has been one of this season's biggest breakout stars: an underrated playmaker, a ridiculously versatile defender and an indispensable piece for the league-best Golden State Warriors. He's bound to garner some buzz for both Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year. 

Whether that would be enough to get him into the All-Star game if the selection process was a true meritocracy is impossible to say. The Western Conference is replete with an embarrassment of frontcourt riches, and there's no science to parsing out who is or isn't deserving of a spot. 

The coaches will have their say eventually, but for now the argument is moot. All-Star fan voting is a popularity contest, which is why Green is nowhere in the vicinity of the leaderboard, and Kobe Bryant is on pace to start.

Here are the results from the latest (and final) poll: 

Bryant's tally - which places him second among all NBA guards and fourth overall - shouldn't come as a huge surprise. He was voted in as a starter last season, too, even though he'd only played in six games. (He was injured, and didn't participate.) 

Still, his seemingly automatic inclusion is bound to rankle some who take these things seriously. Kobe's done some great things for the Lakers this season, all the more impressive given his age and recent injury history. But in the perfect world envisioned by Draymond Green's mom, James Harden absolutely starts the All-Star game and Kobe probably doesn't even crack the roster. 

But if we're going to harp on what the voters are getting wrong, it's only fair to recognize what they're getting right. Pau and Marc Gasol are both highly deserving of the first-time starter's spots they're on track to nab, as are Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry, who are hot on LeBron James's heels for the overall lead in votes. 

That kind of spot-on curation makes it harder to work up a froth about Jimmy Butler ranking fifth among Eastern Conference guards. 

Not that that'll stop us.