Kobe continues to lead All-Star balloting by healthy margin
While Kobe Bryant's performance on the floor this season can be best described as mediocre, he continues to do extremely well in digital voting. The soon-to-retire Los Angeles Lakers legend has maintained his lead in NBA All-Star balloting in the second round of results, released Thursday.
With 1,162,118 votes, Bryant has a lead of 336,329 over the next-highest player, reigning league MVP Stephen Curry.
LeBron James leads Eastern Conference candidates with 636,388 votes, meaning Bryant's received almost twice as many votes. Kobe himself expressed surprise at his lead last month.
Now in his 20th and final season, Bryant's been voted into the All-Star Game in every year since his second season in the NBA (with the exception of the lockout-shortened 1999 campaign, when there was no game). He hasn't actually played in the last two contests due to injury.
Both Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs have surpassed currently-injured Blake Griffin in Western Conference frontcourt voting since the first round of numbers were released on Christmas Day.
If voting ended now, starters would be as follows:
| Position | West | East |
|---|---|---|
| F | Kobe Bryant | LeBron James |
| F | Kevin Durant | Paul George |
| F | Draymond Green | Andre Drummond |
| G | Stephen Curry | Dwyane Wade |
| G | Russell Westbrook | Kyrie Irving |
The All-Star Game goes Feb. 14 in Toronto. Full balloting can be seen at NBA.com.