Kobe maintains huge lead in 2nd round of NBA All-Star voting

The NBA released the second round of voting results for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game on Thursday, and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant continues to lead all vote-getters by a extremely healthy margin.

The 37-year-old Bryant has amassed 1,262,118 votes, which not only leads all players, but leads runner-up Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors — the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and last year's top vote-getter — by more than 330,000 votes, and leads the combined totals of the next two most popular selections: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (636,388 votes to lead all Eastern Conference players) and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (616,096).

As I wrote on Christmas Day, Bryant's monster vote count is both indicative of just how many fans want to see Kobe compete in the February exhibition one last time before retiring at the end of this season, and a placement that doesn't at all accurately depict the overall level of Bryant's play on the court for the 8-28 Lakers. And, as I wrote then, it doesn't bother me too much; this, after all, is the point of having a fan vote — allowing fans to have their say in which players they'd like to see on the court. They'd like to see Kobe in Toronto, even if it is very fair to say that he has not been one of the dozen best players in the West through the season's first two-plus months, and it sure as heck looks like they'll get their wish.

That said, it's hard not to feel a bit bummed out for whichever player winds up getting bumped out of an earned starting spot by the overwhelming support for Bryant's candidacy. Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green currently leads San Antonio Spurs stud Kawhi Leonard by less than 2,000 votes in the race for third place; while Durant-Green-Leonard is almost surely the most deserving Western frontcourt troika of the season to date, with apologies to fifth-place Blake Griffin, one of the Dray-Kawhi duo will wind up coming off the pine for the conference squad. Oh, well. They'll have to content themselves with almost-assured All-NBA First or Second Team berths come year's end.

More than that, though, it's the trickle-down effect. Since Kobe starting means a should-be top-three frontcourt player doesn't get the fan vote, that means that the coaches will have to name that player as one of the West's reserves. That means there's one fewer bench slot available for a player who also merits consideration, which means some very good player having a very good first half — say, DeMarcus Cousins, or Dirk Nowitzki, or Derrick Favors, or DeAndre Jordan — will wind up getting the short end of the stick. That's a bummer, because there's a really good chance that whichever player ends up on the outside looking in will be a more "deserving" player than the 2015-16 version of Kobe. Then again, it's also the cost of doing business; in All-Star games, "deserve" doesn't really have much to do with it.

If voting closed today, the starting lineups would be Bryant, Durant and Green up front alongside Curry and Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook in the backcourt for the West, squaring off against James, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (who, as you recall, is President Barack Obama's pick), Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and LeBron's Cavalier teammate, Kyrie Irving, who still holds a lead over 2015 All-Stars Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls and John Wall of the Washington Wizards despite playing in just seven games this season.

Other items of note/races worth watching:

• New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony has cut into Drummond's lead for the final starting spot in the East's frontcourt, reducing it from just over 15,000 votes on Christmas to just under 6,000 votes now;
• Miami big men Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside have moved up from seventh and ninth to sixth and eighth in voting, overtaking Cavaliers forward Kevin Love and Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, respectively;
• Irving has extended his lead for the second Eastern backcourt starting spot;
• Pistons point man Reggie Jackson has overtaken Hornets swingman Nicolas Batum for the No. 10 spot among Eastern guards;
• Both Green and Leonard leapt over Griffin, who has missed the last six games after suffering a partially torn left quadriceps tendon;
• Someone out there really likes Dallas Mavericks center Zaza Pachulia, who went from outside the top 15 in voting at Christmas to eighth among Western frontcourt players, and who currently has more votes than Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard and his teammate Dirk;
• Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson has moved within a scant 1,070 votes of Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul for the third-place spot among Western guards.

You can check out the full voting results below. If you're interested in a breakdown of the myriad ways one can vote, click here. The next update for balloting comes Jan. 14, with voting wrapping up on Jan. 18, the starters announced Jan. 21, and reserves voted on by the coaches before being announced Jan. 28. The game will take place Sunday, Feb. 14 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Frontcourt

1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers: 636,388 votes
2. Paul George, Indiana Pacers: 457,554
3. Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons: 261,158
4. Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks: 255,536
5. Pau Gasol, Chicago Bulls: 209,006
6. Chris Bosh, Miami Heat; 194,429
7. Kevin Love, Cavaliers: 172,517
8. Hassan Whiteside, Heat: 168,549
9. Kristaps Porzingis, Knicks: 160,170
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 48,768
11. Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors: 30,023
12. Marcin Gortat, Washington Wizards: 27,185
13. Joakim Noah, Bulls: 23,121
14. DeMarre Carroll, Raptors: 22,797
15. Paul Millsap, Atlanta Hawks: 21,625

BACKCOURT

1. Dwyane Wade, Heat: 562,558
2. Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers: 271,094
3. Kyle Lowry, Raptors: 242,276
4. Jimmy Butler, Bulls: 220,429
5. John Wall, Wizards: 207,274
6. DeMar DeRozan, Raptors: 170,539
7. Derrick Rose, Bulls: 159,787
8. Jeremy Lin, Hornets: 122,988
9. Isaiah Thomas, Boston Celtics: 87,452
10. Reggie Jackson, Pistons: 44,525

WESTERN CONFERENCE

FRONTCOURT

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers: 1,262,118
2. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder: 616,096
3. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors: 332,223
4. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs: 330,929
5. Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers: 298,212
6. Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: 261,491
7. Tim Duncan, Spurs: 228,995
8. Zaza Pachulia, Dallas Mavericks: 194,421
9. DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings: 190,060
10. Enes Kanter, Thunder: 183,468
11. LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs: 124,404
12. Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets: 120,424
13. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks: 99,681
14. DeAndre Jordan, Clippers: 91,186
15. Harrison Barnes, Warriors: 82,427

BACKCOURT

1. Stephen Curry, Warriors: 925,789
2. Russell Westbrook, Thunder: 479,512
3. Chris Paul, Clippers: 268,672
4. Klay Thompson, Warriors: 267,602
5. James Harden, Rockets: 249,877
6. Rajon Rondo, Kings: 120,767
7. Andre Iguodala, Warriors: 111,575
8. Manu Ginobili, Spurs: 100,602
9. Tony Parker, Spurs: 86,238
10. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers: 81,035